Good day friends, I hope this post finds you all in a good place and bearing the chilly fall temperatures (or the warmer spring temperatures for my friends down under). As promised this is the final installment for my vacation photos and it’s Paris! We traveled to Paris from Lyon via the TGV which is their high speed train. Four years ago we went from Avignon to Paris on the TGV and enjoyed it so much, we thought we’d do it again! Normally this trip would have taken an entire day, but on the TGV it’s only three hours — that’s how fast it goes! Here is a little movie to show the speed.
The trip itself was quiet and uneventful and we arrived at the main train station in Paris on time. Because JT was still hobbling so we took a cab to our apartment which seemed to be on the complete opposite side of town, and was expensive. They have a direct train to the airport but it was a 30 minute walk to the apartment and considering our situation, we decided against it.
The apartment was on the fourth floor, fifth if you count the ground floor as one (Europeans count it as zero). 88 steps up. 22kg (50lbs) of luggage EACH! Fortunately, our lovely host Jean-François bolted both of our bags up the 88 steps to our beautiful flat. I’ll be the first person to admit it, seven pairs of shoes seemed like a good idea at the time I selected my outfits for the trip, but from here on in, I will change my packing MO, for sure! I will limit myself to three pairs of shoes (knowing full well that I will likely buy a pair or two while away!) Now I just need a long trip to test myself!
Our flat was in the Montmartre district, not very touristy, but that’s a good thing. I like having a simple breakfast because it’s an easy way to control the calories particularly on vacation so we bought some provisions for breakfasts and cocktails and we were good to go!
We didn’t have great weather, these things happen, so we stayed close to home for dinners but we explored like crazy during the daytime — rain or no rain, it’s Paris! In fact, the weather made us choose activities we might not have normally chosen. For example, the Pompidou Centre which is apparently the largest collection of modern art. Not sure about you, but I just don’t get the large rock on a 1970’s fridge as art. Really? But they also have some more interesting pieces that I can relate to. The Pompidou centre has a lovely lookout at the top and if you don’t wish to subject yourself to art: pile of bricks on the floor, you can pay only for the lookout. They also have a restaurant up there too which is supposed to be pretty good bit it was expensive and it was overcast; had it been a sunny day, we would have splurged! Musée de l’Orangerie is another gallery that we visited, it’s not expensive and it’s quite manageable in a couple of hours. It has Monet’s Water Lilies, the really huge paintings — they have two or three large rooms dedicated to 4 works each…they are HUGE!
We also did some old favorites, like the top of the Arc de Triomphe, which gives you a gorgeous view of the Champs Elleyse, the top of Montmartre with the beautiful Sacré-Cœur Bascilica and the lively artists selling their art in the square. We were also up close to the Obelisque in the Place de la Concorde. We tried to get into the crypts at Notre Dame Cathedral but the line up was bad, so we passed; it wasn’t our first trip to Paris and I’m sure it won’t be our last, so it’s on the list for next time.
Food was as good as ever; we had some lovely meals at little ma and pa restaurants in our direct hood! I had a lot of steak tartare…and Caprese salads. One meal in particular was at a place called Le Bistrot Pappillon where I had a tuna tartare, but I loved the crispy rosette of Phylo pastry they garnished the dish with. I snapped a pic to make sure I don’t forget…you’ll be seeing that technique sometime soon!
And last but not least, on our final day in Paris, we had the opportunity to meet up for lunch with fellow blogger Charles, of Five Euro Foods. Charles is gracious, kind, generous and charming…exactly what you would expect from reading his blog. Charles generously treated us to a Korean BBQ luncheon at one of his favourite spots. Neither JT nor I had experienced this wonderful and tasty food before so it seemed apropos to experience it first with Charles. We had a delicious beef BBQ with a variety of toppings and sauces, Shiso leaves or lettuce leaves and steamed rice; he also ordered an interesting soup with tofu. We were very well fed! Thank you Charles for a memorable lunch, it was so lovely to meet you.
Charles recently became a Dad to a lovely young man named William. If you pop over to his blog you can see a photo of William sporting a very chic jumper (if I do say so myself)! You will also see my friend Barb’s (Profiteroles and Ponytails) very first guest post successfully making non-other than the famed Macarons. Barb had asked me to pick up some Macarons for Charles and I to munch on while JT took our photos; what can I say, it’s a tough job, but someone had to do it! We found a perfect little specialty shop in Montmartre called Christophe Roussel (recommended by a blog called Madaboutmacarons that claimed it was the best in Paris and boy, they were TASTY — wish I had bought more of them! Particularly the salted caramel … YUM). Fortunately, our last day in Paris was perfect with warm temperatures and sunny – just right for the photo opp!
So that concludes our European Adventure for 2012. Thank you so much for joining us on our little journey and now we’ll get back into regular programming. Blog on!
[…] Korean cuisine but my only experience was with Charles (Five Euro Food, in hiatus presently) when we met up in Paris in 2012 and Sissi’s tantalizing recipes for pickles and kimchi. So one afternoon, I decided […]
LikeLike
[…] time ago, my dear friend Charles (remember when we met in Paris last year?) made this wonderful Caramelized Onion Fakaccia and it got me thinking about […]
LikeLike
Spellchecker Baby – it’s Macaroons not Macarons!
LikeLike
Thanks for your comment Jack, welcome to my blog. I do appreciate a note regarding spelling on my blog as I am only human and sometimes I miss even the electronic spellchecks! However, this is no error. Please see http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2008/09/making-french-macarons/
Or just Google it and you’ll see it’s not an error!
LikeLike
Awh! You met charles! 🙂 You two look really happy enjoying those macaroons! 🙂 Glad you had a good time in France!
LikeLike
Thanks Fati, it was a thrill to meet another blogger.
LikeLike
Love the photo of you and Charles enjoying the macarons!
Enjoy your Sunday!
Angie
LikeLike
Thanks Angie.
LikeLike
What a fantastic trip! You have me ready to go back to Paris with all your descriptions. And I had to giggle about the 7 pairs of shoes…you are my kind of gal!!!! So fun that you got to meet Charles…I met Jill (mad about macarons) when I was there…I think we need a blogger convention as an excuse to return to Paris soon!
LikeLike
Thanks Liz, what an incredible coincidence that I found Jill with a simple google!
Believe me, I want to go back too and I just got home!
As FYI I am no longer able to comment on your blog with my iPhone, it doesn’t allow me to type my name or website at all. I am having the same difficulty on another eBlogger site as well.
LikeLike
So lovely to see photos of your time in Paris. That train certainly does rip along – it’s all a blur out that window. 88 Steps! I’ve heard that in Paris people live in apartments with not steps and carry everything up and down. How do they do it! So wonderful that you were able to meet Charles – he just seems like the most kind and beautiful person. It looks like the weather was okay the day you met too xx
LikeLike
Yes, the weather turned out great the day we met up with Charles. It was really lovely to meet him.
That us indeed a lot of steps, but I think that’s Europe in general; my aunt’s place is also four stories and the ground floor is just the garage, laundry and larder.
LikeLike
Thanks for sharing your trip with us Eva and reminding me that I need to get back over to the continent soon, especially to Paris…where I’m looking forward to having a good experience in the city.
Hope you and JT enjoy those pretzels. 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks Jed. Paris is always so lovely, even with the bad weather we had.
I have the pretzels proofing right now. I’ll be popping down to the kitchen in about 15 minutes to start shaping!
LikeLike
I’m so pleased you got to meet Charlies but I’ll confess a teensy bit of envy. 🙂 Eva, you had a fantstic holiday and thank you so much for sharing it with us. I could sit here and look at your photos again and again.
LikeLike
Thank you kindly Maureen, it was really cool to meet one of my blogger friends, we were trying to meet up with another friend but it didn’t work out. Hopefully next time!
LikeLike
What a blissful time! All of that delicious food in one place, can you believe it sometimes? I just love to go to Paris to eat pastry 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks Lorraine, we had a very good food experience as always!
LikeLike
Sounds like a great time even though the weather was not perfect and JT was injured. Good for you for pushing on and making the most of your time in Paris.
LikeLike
Thank Karen, it was a slower pace but fun none-the-less.
LikeLike
Eva, you should be designing tours. How do you get around on your own and find these neat places? I have an affinity to modern art, but the rock on the fridge is something I don’t get. Concept or not, really… who cares? The picture with macaroons is priceless.
LikeLike
Thank you so much Zsuzsa. Both JT and I search the net and blogs to find the cool things to do. I was just talking about that piece of ‘art’ with Kim (boss, friend, neighbour and creative director at work) and she doesn’t get it either. But one thing it has done is inspired conversation, which is more than some other ‘art’ has done.
LikeLike
Ahhh, what a wonderful trip you had, Eva, and thank you for taking us along. Your images of Paris are so fun to see, and I love the shot of you and Charles. Of course I knew that was your surprise and it’s just wonderful to see the real world and the blogging worlds collide in such a happy way! 🙂 I’ve only been to Paris once, when I was 8, so it’s very high on my list to revisit. You’re giving me some great ideas, thanks!
LikeLike
Thanks Betsy, I have a lot more tips on Paris, just email me whenever you decide to go. It was great fun to meet Charles.
LikeLike
I just love the picture of you and Charles! It just absolutely captures so much emotion. It looks like you had a great visit and a fabulous lunch together too! I very much enjoyed this post Eva. Paris is one of my favorite destinations. I would love to take Mike and the kids (and then just Mike) to Paris someday. I was there with friends after college, and there’s so much more I would like to do and see. Especially as more of an adult now. 😉 And let me know if you have any packing tips when you figure out your new MO. I have the same problem. Once I had to empty a bunch of shoes from my bag so that it didn’t exceed the 50lb. limit. Fortunately Mike and the kids suitcases had room. LOL.
LikeLike
Thanks Kristy, JT just snapped one photo after another and we were able to get enough good shots to split between our three blogs! That was our fourth or fifth time in Paris and we loved it. Our neighbour went to Paris last year with her 14 year old daughter and they had a fantastic time.
Yes, JT has often offered to carry my shoes in his bag…
LikeLike
I love Paris.. Dave and I took that train as well when we went to Provence! I love that city.. your apartment is soo pretty.. I love that minimalist look almost as much as I love vintage, which to choose? I think it’s soooo cool that you got to meet Charles and his family.. and those macarons, don’t even get me started!! xx Smidge
LikeLike
Thanks Smidge, sadly we could meet his wife and William as they didn’t want to bring William to a restaurant yet. I can’t blame them, a baby can be a handful. It was such a treat to meet up with Charles.
LikeLike
Beautiful photos, Eva, particularly the one of the stairwell and the snap of you and Charles. You sure got around during your time in Paris. Has the Shoe Queen finally learned her lesson? We’ll see, won’t we?
LikeLike
I laughed out loud at your Shoe Queen. We shall certainly see, I have a very short memory for negatives and likely won’t remember about the stair and weight issues of our luggage.
I really like the composition of the stairs too, Sharyn, thank you for your compliment. JT just snapped one photo after another, we did get a few really good ones which we divided between Barb (Profiteroles and Ponytails), Charles blog and mine! It was great fun to meet him.
LikeLike
I’m glad you have had lots of fun in Paris. My favourite macarons are from Pierre Hermé, I have tasted many others but never Roussel. I must check his macarons next time (Pierre Hermé’s are not very sweet and this is one of the aspects I adore).
What a fabulous photo with Charles! I envy you so much. I wish I could meet him one day too. Time to go to Paris!
LikeLike
Thanks Sissi, truth be told, Charles very much would like to meet you too! JT took the photo of Charles and I with Charles’ super camera with a bizallion mega pixels!
LikeLike
You’re so welcome again Eva – it was lovely to meet you and JT and I hope we can meet again sometime! Lovely to see your photos – the étoile roundabout around the Arc de Triomphe just serves as a reminder to me why I cut it out of any car-driving itinerary 😀
LikeLike
Thanks Charles, do let me know what that soup is called, I tried to find it on line but was unable. The étoile roundabout is very entertaining, and you are quite smart to avoid it.
LikeLike
What a lovely post!! And you and Charles get to meet. Blog life to real life – internet has cross boundaries in ways that was unimaginable even 15 years ago. Love the post, and envy you too!
LikeLike
Thank you kindly Minnie. We tried to meet up with another blogger in Geneva but sadly she was traveling for business on the days we were there.
LikeLike
What a grand trip you and JT had. Are you back to earth yet?????
Thanks for a trip down memory lane. Was on a 3 weeks European tour, few years back, and visited all the places you mentioned including the cathedral (yes, the line was long).
Fantastic video, was that with your iPhone? Beautiful shot of you and Charles.
LikeLike
Thanks so much Norma, it was our fourth (maybe fifth) time in Paris so we had done the usual touristy things a few times before. We took all the photos with our iPhones; mine is the 4s which is an amazing camera for photos and video! JT still has the 4 which is OK. The shot of Charles and I was with his amazing Canon with a bazillion megapixels!
LikeLike
Your slide show is so fancy Eva–do you give tutorials? Love that shot of you and Charles so much! Thank you again for picking up the macarons for you and Charles — and for the extra special treat in our mailbox! There was a feeding frenzy here … As I was cutting up the macarons to ensure I got to try each flavour! Can’t wait to see you guys next week!!!!
LikeLike
Once I figured out the slide show it was easy; the only thing that bugs me a bit is that when you import photos for that post, it puts ALL the photos into a Gallery and it’s the Gallery from which you can make the slide show, you cannot edit out photos unless you remove them from the Gallery (you will see Charles and I as a separate photo and the last photo in the slide show). I find it annoying. I’ll send you a short tutorial.
LikeLike
Don’t prepare anything special on my behalf. I won’t be using this right away and I don’t want to put you to any trouble!)
LikeLike
Ok, I’ll show you when you come for dinner!
LikeLike