te amo paris

the hubs and i woke up at 5:30am the morning after we flew back to the states, jet-lagged and missing paris. so of course, i decided to go through our pictures from the trip and start to inarticulately record all that i loved so much. pictured above, two of my most favorite things about paris- walking along the seine at night, and berthillon ice cream/sorbet.

i would beg some consideration for the questionable coherence of this post however, given that along with some tasty souvenirs, i also picked up some kind of virus which is causing fevers and chills. but hey, remembering paris while in a feverish flopsweat is one of the more enjoyable things that i could be doing, all things considered.

we arrived at CDG airport early in the morning last thursday, and embarked on a whirlwind tour of the city of lights. we had 5 full days, but truly i think i would have liked to stay for another 5 weeks... months... years even! some scattered highlights/memory snapshots...

loved our little modern 1 bedroom apartment in the marais (3rd arrondissement) that we rented for the trip, decked out in IKEA-esque furniture and perfectly suited for our needs with laundry, kitchen, WiFi... we didn't plan on it being so warm (80s all week!) so ended up washing our "coolest" outfits over and over to reuse. cooked a few meals in our apartment, and got a small taste of what it would be like to be a local... which of course just fueled my city-living fantasies... for some reason, this dream of being a city-dweller dies hard.

we hit up the major touristy spots, criss-crossed the town on foot and have the blisters to prove it! next time, will be taking things a bit slower... and also will not be so delusional as to think that i could survive paris on heels of any kind. for some reason, in my head i saw all the women of paris walking around on 3 inch louboutins but i am here to say that about 90% of the women there wear FLATS. sensible women, them. anyhoo, on the hit list- eiffel tower, arc du triomphe, notre dame, place de la concorde, tuileries, luxembourg gardens, pantheon, opera garnier. on the museum list- the louvre, musee d'orsay, musee de l'orangerie, centre georges pompidou. we bought museum passes which were MONEY for bypassing long snaking lines of tourists, though there was no way to avoid the crush of humanity at the louvre for example- can't imagine what it's like to come in high season.

speaking of humanity, i really understood the term "unwashed masses" in paris. there are definitely looser standards of personal hygiene over there. and the bottom of the stairs at any metro station inevitably reeked of urine. no doggy poop around however, to the city's credit- that was one SJP/SATC moment that i did not need to relive ;)

oh the shopping. saw some of the chicest stores anywhere- colette and merci, but felt decidedly dowdy and old and uncool amidst the hipsters. i think i may need to undergo a makeover, post-residency... funded by my post-residency income. marveled at le bon marché, paris' version of neiman marcus and le grande epicerie which is paris' version of eataly. saw the original chanel store and the famous staircase (but was not allowed to take pictures). walked rue saint-honoré, and various other trendy streets for shopping in the marais. such motivation to lose enough weight to fit into couture!!

speaking of losing weight though... i now come to... the food. i'm truly finding myself inadequate to the task of documenting what was an amazing culinary experience. the hubs and i kept saying to each other that this or that was "the best thing we've ever had", and also remarked emphatically that "we can never go back" to "regular" food. as anyone who knows me might have guessed, our food options were the most researched aspect of our itinerary. i put my admittedly weak-sauce excuse for a diet on hold for the trip, and ate guilt-free. had the most amazing croissant, pain au chocolat, and madeleines at blé sucré. scored lunch reservations at chez l'ami jean for an inventive, rich, delicious introduction to basque-style cuisine- wonderfully complex soups, perfectly cooked duck and veal, unique and balanced desserts including a pumpkin concoction that i still think about. had lunch at spring restaurant, and made friends with the chef, a darling of the NYT- eating at the bar by the kitchen was such a cool experience. Chef Daniel Rose himself would describe each of our dishes, actually was very kind about our dietary restrictions, and was overall a perfectly gracious host. We were able to see the effortless ballet that his chefs performed while pumping out exquisitely cooked food... oh man, it really was a foodie's dream. even our unplanned meals turned out to be great experiences as well though- dinner was frequently some store-bought paté or foie gras with cheese and a fresh baguette, or stopping at a local bistro. one thing that i found fascinating though was how apparently most parisians finish their entire plate, because i got multiple worried comments from the waitstaff when i would leave any food on the plate... so apparently portion control when eating out is NOT one of the tools employed by famously slender parisian women.

my quest for the best macarons in paris deserves its own paragraph. i must say, i failed to visit all of the patisseries and bakeries that i intended to visit, for lack of time/planning so i consider my evaluation incomplete. however, i can say this much- i don't think there is such a thing as the BEST macaron, as i found that it is highly flavor dependent. pierre hermé had the best caramel macaron, while the overall best macaron that we had in paris was the orange-ginger at jean-paul hévin. ladurée offered solid, work-horse-like options for tasty macarons. angelina and michel cluizel both had good macarons as well... and i didn't get to try gerard mulot, which is also batted about when talking about the "best" in the city. all the more reason to continue my quest in the future when i come back (not if, WHEN)... also, i have many many flavors left to try from berthillon ice cream/sorbets...

another thing i loved about paris.... people just LOUNGE there. we took the bateaux mouche boat ride on the seine at night, and saw scores of young people just chilling on the banks with their friends. ditto for any gardens- luxembourg, tuileries, in front of the louvre... people just sitting and talking, lovers canoodling, families spending time together. it was lovely, and i can't really think of an equivalent here in the states... but there should be, i think. like, the big plan for friday or saturday night is... just to hang out and talk, in a lovely outdoor environment. i like it.

so, i took a year of french in 3rd grade which has left me with the ability to count to 10, and parrot a memorized "conversation" consisting of questions and answers to "what is your name?" and "how are you?"- essentially, totally useless. the hubs took french in high school, but his retention of any such skills is self-admittedly abysmal. luckily most people in paris speak english, which is good because any attempts i made at making simple conversation invariably led to some spanish sneaking in there. for example, water "sans gas" became "sin gas". "ouí" became "sí". i was reminded of one of my high school spanish teachers who also taught french, and frequently had this problem... i don't know that my brain is able to retain working knowledge of more than 3 languages, but i'm eager to try... whenever i can afford that darn rosetta stone software.

suffice it to say, i'm hungry for more paris. i loved it, and i want to go back in a way that is wholly atypical of how i've felt about my other travels. i hope this is the start of a beautiful friendship...