Paris in the fall

We went to Paris this weekend, one of many weekend trips we've made this summer in what has been an exhausting attempt to see all of the places in Europe that we've been wanting to go for years and never had the foresight (or money) to plan.

In fact this summer, since the start of May, we have been almost non-stop traveling. It all kicked off with a trip to the US (Philly/NYC) for my father's 1 year passing anniversary and funeral and then back to Europe for these cities/countries: Switzerland, Lecce (Puglia), Amsterdam, London (by train), Rome, London (this time by train IN our car!), Kazakhstan, Champagne Region of France, Northern Ireland, Marseilles, Greece and Madrid. That's 12 places + the US in the span of 6 months and next week we're in Lyon. Mind you we've both worked full time through this.

It's been crazy and I think both of us agree, something we will never come close to doing again.

But this weekend was different; we used my points to stay at the Parc Hyatt Paris Vendome, which was free but should be pretty neat for our first stay at a luxury hotel (more on that later).

We decided to have zero expectations which was strange, because despite the fact that we have lived roughly an hour by train from Paris, we haven't been in years and have never seen the Louvre or really much of the city at all except the walk along the Seine - but regardless, this trip we pledged just to go for a run, and hold ourselves to no requirements otherwise. We would be back by mid-afternoon the next day in Brussels, so it would be a quick, hopefully restorative trip in a beautiful city.

In the end, we hit the mark pretty spot on, with a little help from the weather on Sunday.

We got to the hotel and since our room wasn't ready we stored our bags and went for a 16k run along the Seine.

There had been a storm the week prior so the Seine had flooded which made running difficult, not to mention the tourist crowds, but the sites were incredible. We may have been prudent to turn around earlier as we ended up by halfway in a pretty industrial area but at least it was quieter there.

And yes, dreary right? But I've mentioned that in my previous post...so no need to beleaguer that. We were just glad it didn't rain.

Our hotel was beautiful, right in the center of the sites at the Place Vendôme. The hotel had a tasteful and quiet spa that we got to enjoy Saturday night after walking around the city. They also had custom scent room sprays, body washes and shampoos that I almost bought. Maybe next time.

That Saturday evening,we headed to the Canal St Martin area and walked around there - the supposedly hip part of town. Felt more Williamsburg-y than Flatbush-y as far as we were concerned - maybe a bit too polished for us, but it was certainly pretty:

We wandered over to Oberkampf area after that which was a bit grittier and then enjoyed some Central Asian food at Plov.fr.

The next day, we got some sun! After a nice flat white at Nuance Cafe, we made our way over to Le Marais (sortave similar to me to Soho, NYC) and to my favorite perfumerie, Trudon. We also stopped in at the Diptyque store to see about getting a room spray there. We told both stores we would be back in the afternoon to actually buy things. We returned to neither.

Instead, we walked to the Instagram famous Chez Mian Mian, where there was an hour wait to eat so, starving and afraid of impending hanger, we walked into the Marché des Enfants Rouge. The market itself was cool, but it was so busy on a sunny Sunday morning that we couldn't try any of the food that looked best and instead got stuck with some mediocre arancini as a snack.

After that we were blessed by an incredible place, easily the best food we ate in Paris: 7 Au Marais. This place had no wait, outdoor seating and was a five minute walk from the presumably overhyped crowds at the market and Chez Mian Mian. We got a pastrami sandwich, and basked in delicious satiation and October sunlight.

We then made our way across the Seine to the Latin Quarter and up to the Place Estrapade where Emily in Paris was shot, evidently because we're shameless Emily stans. It was a great way to see the Pantheon and the left side of the river, the more bohemian side.

Finally we walked back down to the Notre Dame and did what has become our new favorite on our trips, listening to the free Rick Steve's walking guides. We learned about the history of the Notre Dame Cathedral (which is set to re-open in December 2024), as well as the historic left bank, and finally the 19th century development of the right bank of Paris; where the beautiful, monotonous buildings were actually intentionally built to keep protesters from overthrowing the government by having wide boulevards to easily dispel mobs, according to Rick Steves at least.

As an aside, it is a bit the joke among our friend group here that I'm a shameless francophile. To be honest, I'm not sure it's so wrong, and I at least partially blame my background. I took french as a child and after years in Brussels, I consider myself to be somewhere near fluent in the language. My dad (who taught American political philosophy for 30 years) used to wax poetic about the French philosophers (Montesqieu, Rousseau, Voltaire) who helped devise the theory behind the practical implementation of the American constitution and democracy. I learned from Rick Steves that Hemingway as well as many of his contemporaries like Gertrude Stein fled conservative, prohibition America in the 20s for the liberal Paris. I certainly grew up, as I assume many Americans did, with the romanticized version of Paris that those expats conjured up.

Nonetheless, all that aside, I've made my own relationship with the country over the years, living in Toulouse and traveling to many of its regions including the full mediterranean coast, Normandy and Bretagne, the Loire Valley, the Champagne Region and finally Paris. Every time and particularly this time of all, I am blown away by the architecture, its grandesse, breadth, and beauty. From St Malo with its fortified french style on the sea, to Paris with its grand boulevards, the cities in France are truly like candy, at least for my eyes; and I'm constantly in awe at the sheer scope of them.