The Sights and Sounds of Paris

There is really so much to see in Paris, I feel certain that French people, and probably even Parisians, don't get around to all of it.  We were there for four days and really just hit the big things that people say you should see.  We didn't find ourselves enamored with the city, as many people thought we would be.  We also didn't find that everyone hated us because we were American, and actually didn't feel this at all.  People were generally very helpful and not rude at all.  All in all, Paris has some pretty amazing things to see.  You will wait in line for everything you do, but it's all worth it.

Notre Dame
The first thing we saw in Paris was Notre Dame.  This was not really on purpose, but we were walking around the city and found that this was the first thing we came upon.  It is a beautiful place, as are most cathedrals in Europe.  The detail in the stonework and stained glass throughout the cathedral must have been painstaking at the time.  It's something you should make time to see.

Moulin Rouge
I would highly, highly recommend Moulin Rouge. The show was fun and engaging. We also had dinner there, which was ok, but you could definitely hit a bistro beforehand as well. From the flashy costumes, singing, dancing, animals, and even the acts between- it was all great and a must do.  And yes, there is some nudity, but it's done very tastefully.

Chateau Chantilly
Chateau Chantilly may be somewhat unknown to people outside of Europe, but we had some people recommend it to us to go see while we were in Paris. We debated between this and Versailles, but couldn't decide on which one, so we did what all indecisive adults do- flipped a coin, and this one won. It is outside of Paris, but another easy train ride gets you there.

It is a sprawling estate that's been around since the middle ages and has been the home of various French dignitaries.  It has elaborate decor and one of the largest art collections in France (behind the Louvre).  There's also the park and gardens, which are very well kept and offer a quiet place to walk around outside and a restaurant that serves a small selection of food and drinks.  We stopped in for a brief beverage and snack and indulged in the Chantilly Creme before heading back to the city.

Arc de Triomphe
The Arc de Triomphe is a must see in my book.  It is a huge landmark built by Napoleon that sits in a huge traffic circle in Paris.  We went at night, which I would also recommend, as it offers great views of the city, including of the Eiffel Tower lit up over the skyline.  You have to climb up a long spiral staircase, then come to a rest area, then up another long set of stairs to get to the top, but it's absolutely worth it.  Back on the ground, the Arc has great sculptures throughout the landmark and you can also visit the tomb of the unknown soldier, which has a flame lit each night at dusk.

Eiffel Tower
Of course, the Eiffel Tower is also a must see if you're in Paris. The line will likely be very long to get in, but it moved pretty fast when we were there.  Unfortunately they closed the top just as we got up to purchase our tickets; apparently they had let too many people up to the top, and no one else could go up.  We climbed the stairs on this one too to the first level, and then again to the middle of the tower.  The views are incredible and just the fact that you're in the Eiffel Tower is pretty awesome too.  The tower is massive; you get the feeling more than other landmarks around the world because you can actually walk through it at ground level.

Sacre Coeur
Sacre Coeur was highly recommended by a number of people in Paris, but honestly I would probably pass on this one.  It is a cathedral situated high on a hill a few minutes outside of the city center; you walk through the neighborhood of Montmartre, which was apparently made famous by Chat Noir and Theo Picasso (as told to me by an art history major we struck up a conversation with at the Eiffel Tower). The building is beautiful, but you really go up for the views of Paris.  Unfortunately for us, it was cloudy pretty much the entire time we were there, so we were not able to see much.  On a clear day it might be a better experience, but I'm mixed on this one.

Louvre
Let me just put it out there: The Louvre will kick your ass and take your name.  I had no idea of the area or sheer number of pieces in the Louvre.  Despite that, it was one of the best things we did.  The art is not only beautiful, but the presentation of the art and even just the building are remarkable.  The lines can be intimidatingly long, but if you enter via any other entrance besides the main entrance (the pyramid) your wait is not too long.

We spent about four hours here on our last day in Paris.  If you want to see EVERYTHING, I would recommend giving yourself two days to do it.  We skipped all of the paintings (BK says he can only take so much Madonna with Child) and focused on sculptures and artifacts, which was really interesting.  At one point BK said to me, "What are you doing? If you don't hurry up, we're never going to get through this."  I found this funny and ironic, as I was just trying to look at some art that I found interesting.  He wanted to make sure we saw everything we wanted to before we left.  This is also a must do while in Paris, even if you don't consider yourself a fan of museums.

If you have the chance to go to Paris, do it- the city has so much to offer.  It will be expensive, so save up if you're going.  I also wish you much better weather than we had!

What A Way to Ring in 32!

In the grand scheme of things, 32 seems like a pretty insignificant birthday number.  Who would have thought that I would get to celebrate 32 in Paris?  I definitely did not, but then it just happened to coincide with when we moved to Switzerland...what a great treat!

BK and I headed out from our home of four days and took the TGV to Paris.  I would highly recommend this type of train if you're traveling around Europe.  It is essentially a bullet train that goes about 200 mph, and got us from Basel to Paris is just a little over three hours.  It was sleeting when we left Basel and Paris greeted us with gray skies and very cold temps and lots of wind.

Paris can be a little overwhelming, but mostly because you think you need to get out and do as much stuff as possible while you're there.  When you first arrive, unless you have done some serious studying beforehand, you may find the public transit system a little confusing.  Often they have all types of public transit (Metro, RER, T, bus, etc.) depicted on one map which can leave you feeling like you'll never figure out how to get anywhere.  We figured it out enough to get us where we needed to go- the M is the Metro and was built first as an inner city transit system; it makes many frequent stops, but will pretty much put you anywhere in the city.  The RER is the "suburban" train line; in addition to going outside of the innermost zones, it also crosses the city, but with fewer stops in between.

Little Palace Hotel

We stayed at the Little Palace Hotel, which was your typical European hotel- nothing too exciting, but it's also never my plan to spend lots of time here.  It was in a good location, with relatively easy access to anything you could need.

I'll tell you about the sites in a separate blog, but I have to rave about the food.  All the food we had in Paris was amazing.  BK asked me at one point, "What do you think makes French food so good?" My response: lots of butter, fresh herbs and full fat everything.

The food was ridiculous.  Nearly any bistro or brasserie you walk into will have a cozy feel to it and will offer traditional casual French food.  Croque monsieurs, tartines, mixed salads with seasonal veggies...you name it, it was good.  These places are on nearly every corner and probably feel cozy because each place tries to stuff as many tables as possible into one space- upcloseandpersonal with all who are around you.

We also had nice dinners each night we were there.  On Friday after we saw the Arc de Triomphe we happened upon a little place on the opposite side of Avenue des Champs Elysees called Chez Georges.  It was a white tablecloth restaurant, but we easily got in without reservations.  It was by far one of the best meals I've ever had.  We had escargot to start and a veal chop meant to split with new potatoes.  YUM! 

 

Beware if you ever go to Paris over Easter weekend.  You may find that many things usually open are closed for the holiday, which is what happened with the both restaurants we initially chose in Paris for dinner.  Saturday after finding that the restaurant we wanted was closed, we then found Les Deux Canards, a restaurant specializing in duck l'orange. Again we had escargot, plus mushrooms to start, then BK had duck l'orange and I had duck confit.  If you're not a fan of orange in your main course, I wouldn't recommend duck l'orange anywhere, but my duck confit was excellent.  We ended the night with creme brûlée, which they caramelize at the table with a branding iron of sorts.

 

If it sounds like the food was indulgent, it was.  Throw in some champagne, wine and desserts at every meal, and you're really over the top.  As they say, "When in Rome," well this time for us, it was, "When in Paris."  I have a feeling you'll be seeing that theme in our travels quite a bit now.

Reflections on the first few days

I don't have a lot of new things to report in on thus far.  I am happy to report that BK and I are now officially registered with the Swiss government, so we can now do other things like open a bank account and purchase a monthly tram pass for use in April.  It snowed the past couple of days, all day, and it's still really cold outside.  We're in Paris now- it's also really cold here, but more on that later.

I have had a few observations about us living here in the short time we've been here:

• I came a little bit prepared for a lot of random stuff.  For example:
• I probably own 15 sets of iSomething headphones.  How many did I make it to Basel with?  Zero.  How that happened, I'm not quite sure; I'm hoping that some of them might be in the air shipment.  
• I brought some scarves, but there more the decorative type to wear with sweaters, tees, etc- they don't so much do a good job of keeping you warm.
• As I previously mentioned, the "winter" running clothes aren't nearly warm enough for this climate.  On the other hand, I also forgot to pack workout t-shirts, so I've had to use BK's shirts to workout instead when I've gone down to the gym.
• BK has coat, gloves, hats and no scarves.  I have coat, gloves, summer scarves and no hat. Not sure why I couldn't put together a complete ensemble for either of us.
• Water is definitely the next commodity.  People in Europe must stay extremely dehydrated, as I never see anyone walking around with water bottles like they do in Texas.  It costs to get water anywhere you go, and I find that if we're at a restaurant I am suddenly always dying of thirst.  I think mentally, I just want a glass of water (ice would be pushing it) in case I get thirsty, and am just used to having it.  Wine can only do so much to quench my thirst.
• BK and I really function better if we have more than just a room to live in.  I'm sure this is true for most married couples, but I've told myself that this experience will just make us much more thankful for the one bedroom apartment we're about to temporarily move into.
• No adults wear galoshes over here.  I have some yellow ones that I wore when it was snowing hard the other day, and I pretty much stuck out like a sore thumb.  I've decided that's okay though, I like them and they keep my feet really warm and dry.  Let people think what they will.
• Doors into shops, restaurants, hotels, etc. all open in.  Every single time I try to enter an establishment I pull on the door to open it.  Every. Single. Time.  You would think after a few times I would learn, but I haven't quite gotten this one down yet.
• I really should have done some training for the amount of walking that I'm now doing on a daily basis.  I love it, don't get me wrong, but I am having a reality check on what type of shape I'm actually in. 
• On a more serious note, BK and I are going to have to work hard not to work at night all the time.  It's somewhat tempting and convenient to log on in the evening when everyone you work with is in the office, but then you essentially end up working around the clock.  After this weekend we'll be seven hours ahead of Texas, so that's just not going to work.

That's about it for now; just a few observations on how the first couple of days have gone.  I should have lots to post about Paris...exciting times!