Adam and Sophia in the City of Lights
According to Wikipedia, Paris is the most popular tourist destination in the world. We certainly didn’t feel original picking it as the starting point of our honeymoon, but we quickly discovered there’s a reason for the worldwide Paris fever; Paris is the most beautiful city we’ve ever laid eyes on.
Parisan Macaron (Cassis)
Our 3 night stay in Paris was breathtaking. We stayed at a beautiful little hotel (with an immaculate room that was smaller than an American closet) at Hotel Le Petit Paris. The hotel is in a picture-perfect Paris neighborhood complete with a boulangerie, patisserie, fromagerie, boucherie, and several other “ies” that we couldn’t name, like a small store that sold Liberean fried treats.
Our hotel rested on Rue Saint Jacques, just between the Pantheon and the Jardin du Luxembourg. These gardens are priceless. The French are very imaginative – they made a huge “hedge maze” out of full sized trees… very cool. And they love fountains. The gardens are complete with an apiary and resident beekeepers who we saw in action (yes I had to look up the word apiary).
Beekeepers in Jardin du Luxembourg
As most tourists in Paris do, we walked a lot. So much, in fact, that we got sore in a place I didn’t know you could get sore (hold off on the honeymoon jokes) – the back of our knees were swollen and sore the next day. On our walks we came across various little treasures such as the most amazing Parisian macarons ever (including our favorite, Olive Oil and Vanilla, see pic, from Pierre Herme), countless beautiful and mysterious streets (they don’t make them like that in California), and a strange Gypsy trick which we thankfully detected and avoided (learn about the “Gold Ring Trick“, simple but confusing in French). Don’t worry Larry, we saw the sights, including the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Élysées, the Louvre, le Sarbonne, and some wonderful neighborhoods. One notable experience was entering Notre Dame on Sunday morning during mass and hearing the majestic sounds of the organ playing and chanting.
Cochon de Lait
The dining was, of course, delicious. We had an amazing and unique meal at L’atelier Joel Robuchon thanks to Megan and Pat. The meal consisted of bruschetta with Jambon Iberica, caviar and Champagne, lobster & truffle ravioli, fois gras, cochon de lait, and both chocolate and raspberry and cream desserts. Delicious, and a very special experience. Restaurants of all calibers impressed us, from the simple little raclettes in Le Oberkampf to the unbelievable pastries that pleased the eye as much as the mouth.
It was more than just the food that made the restaurants in Paris wonderful, it was the entire experience. Some of the experiences were warm and lovely (sitting in cozy candle-lit corner and drinking delicious house wines), some were just odd (like being told by a waiter that the lobster salad was “for the woman”), and some shocking… We sat at one restaurant full of English speakers, and couldn’t help but overhear an American table talking to a Tasmanian sheep herder (OK I heard a lot of the conversation). An older American at one point said in a thick southern accent “We’re from America.
We miss Paris already
We think Barack Obama is the worst thing that ever happened to America. We’re from Virginia.” We quickly exchanged looks of shock with another American couple sitting near us. Silence filled an already quiet restaurant as the Aussie stared back. The Virginian followed with “well, what do you think of him?” to which the Aussie paused and replied “I think he’s a statesman.” I don’t think anyone in the room really knew what he meant but he managed to assuage everyone with one comment, and the meal went on.
`Hi Guys
Your blog is wonderful and it so are your experiences. I am very happy for the two of you. As the saying goes: “Ah, to be young, in love and in Paris.” Well, I have one of those. And actually Joan has been trying to arrange a trip to Paris for my birthday but she was finding the airfares too high, perhaps in the spring.
I am very pleased to hear from you. I started to get a little concerned by last night when I had not for a while.
Anyway, keep having a great time together. Keep the cards and letters coming (as they used to say), or the emails and blogs in the 21st century.
By the way I think your blog is great: wonderfully well written and document with pictures.
Love Dad
Love the update!! So well written 🙂 Enjoy every minute and keep eating lots of wonderful things.
Love to you both!
p.s. Sophia, great haircut! She did it just right!
Hi:
Loving taking a trip to Europe vicariously. Sounds like a great adventure.
love from cousin Ann