Next stop Madeleine (too late but worth going back for more)

The sun was getting low in the sky and Melissa still had a few things on the right bank to see before we tried to find dinner. Upon exiting the metro stop at Madeleine, Melissa spotted Fauchon, a favorite gourmet boutique where she picked up some tea for her Mother. While she was buying, I did some searching for the last Art Nouveau public toilets in Paris, which were rumored to be right near there. In the middle of the square was an enormous classically designed building, which I mistook for a library, but was in fact the Church of Madeleine. It was closed for the evening but lots of tourists were gathered on the steps leading to the entrance and after turning the corner I discovered why. They face the great obelisque square which sits between the Touleries Gardens and the Champs Elysee. What a sight to behold. I turned the corner, rushing back to get meet Meliss and happened upon the entrances but they were closed for the evening. We regrouped and headed off to look for some special socks to bring back to Melissa’s employer Annie at a store called MiaZia. Unfortunately, they too were closed so we headed off to attempt one more purchase. We didn’t imagine Laduree, the worlds most amazing (if we do say so) purveyors of pastries and other assorted goodies would be open, and we were right. However, one look in the window demanded that we make a trip back to Laduree before we left Paris (and we did just that the next day).

Shopping Rue de Buci – I’m moving here just as soon as I make a few million euros.

In search of a store called Flamant, which Melissa was looking to for inspiration (and it was a really great home store), we walked through behind St. Germain (on the Seine side) and ended up on Rue Furstenberg. Despite its comparably unattractive name, I think this is one street in downtown Paris that I’d really be happy to live on. Just a block or two away from the hubbub of St. Germain (think 5th avenue) this quiet little street has its own little square lined with fun and odd little boutiques, one of which is Flamant. Though very pricey, it really did give you a sense of the Parisian Arte de Vivre, or Art of Living. Every detail was accounted for and it was almost like Pottery Barn except more minimal and more upscale, with many items feeling like heirlooms in a way that Pottery Barn just can’t seem to achieve on their scale. Just off of this lovely little street was what I think is the best shopping area in Paris for people like Melissa and I.

A few feet onto Rue de Buci and it felt like home. A block later we see the Taschen book store and I’ve died and gone to heaven. Their art books are the best in the world and here they were all congregated in one place. Taschen is a publisher who seems to throw caution to the wind and publish great books regardless of the cost of production or seemingly niche market. Other booksellers in the area were just as charming. We came across a wonderful little store entirely dedicated to books about decorative arts with books stacked willy-nilly floor to ceiling. Then there were the stores with oddities like model ships under big glass bubbles or a lacquered blowfish. There was a wonderful Salon de Tea, which I was tempted to take up residence. Flower markets, cafés and restaurants catering to the wealthy inhabitants of the area. Where do I sign up?

Crepes in Paris – A Delight!

Outside of the church, we experienced our first Paris crepe and it was magnificent. Having had and enjoyed Nutella before (a hazelnut/chocolate spread) I ordered a crepe with nutella and bananas. The fellow preparing them at the stand was a true artist, at one point even talking on the phone while making the crepes. A little secret that I learned is that a broken crepe can be repaired by aligning the edges and then pounding it a little as is what happened with mine. Another oddity we came across at the same stand was that Parisians offer popcorn with two options – sweet or salt. Kids often opt for the sweet, which is powdered with granular sugar. The crepe was heavenly and will definitely not be our last!

Time for a Second, More Adventurous Adventure

After eating and cleaning up, we got a bit of our strength back. Remember, it is now about 2pm Paris time, which means we’ve both had a total of roughly three hours of sleep in about 27 hours, so we are exhausted. But spurred on by having so little time to see so much of the city, we decide to start to make use of our Carte Orange metro pass by going to St. Germain and trying to see some of the cities historic cafés. The metro proves easy once again and we quickly arrive at Boulevard St. Germain, a bustling shopping district with lots of high-end shops and a few surprisingly expensive cafés. Not feeling inclined to sit and watch the world whip by on Vespa scooters, BMW motorcycles and funky little Smart Cars, we continued down the boulevard and happened upon an absolutely beautiful little ally. The weather had just begun to clear and the light was a dramatic change from the dreary gray moments before. With just the right touch of decay to look ancient but austerity to look regal, this little alley really captured our attention and we found ourselves snapping photos for quite a few minutes. The locals glanced furtively down the alley, not sure what to think of the crazy tourists taking pictures of a decrepit back entrance to an apartment building.

Across the street, we happened upon St. Germain de pres Eglise (or church). The building is very old and went in cautiously, not yet accustomed to European church tourist protocol (ectp?). ECPT varies a little from church to church, but in general, they seem to expect them to be both tourist attractions and places of worship. This particular church was a great introduction to what is expected, as we were able to follow other tourists around. We noticed that most people try to avoid flash photography and any conversation is definitely kept to a hushed library level. By European standards this is a fairly small church, but by American standards it was enormous and impressive. Huge oil paintings hung in the alcoves and a pipe organ that put any I’ve ever seen to shame. We took a number of pictures without flash. When touring churches, people tend to go in a loop from left to right, though I’ve no idea why.

Our First Parisian Meal

We intended to get a crepe at a little shop across from the Galleries, but the place looked so inviting and “real” that we decided to have lunch instead. We aren’t sure of its official name but the awning said “creperie – saladerie” and the couple running it were extremely nice and helpful.

Side note: We decided before we went to Paris that, for the sake of what is potentially a once in a lifetime experience, we would suspend out vegetarianism and go with the “plate de jour” or whatever the restaurateur recommended to get a better sense of what French food is really all about. Additionally, we are trying to get a taste of as many regional cuisines as possible while we stay here.

We ordered the “plate de jour” and opted for a poisson dish (fish) and cunard (duck). Due to the language barrier, we accidentally ordered the same vegetable, which was a scalloped potato with mushrooms, but on the whole it was a great little lunch and an absolute ton of food. The eatery was great and as we walked away satisfied and a bit groggy, we realized it was probably an instance where we should tip as it wasn’t include and the owner had brought our food to us at the counter. We hurried back and gave her a couple of euros and she seemed pleased that we had. We once again said, “Merci, Au revoir!” and were on our way back to the Hotel for a shower and change of clothes.

Toiletry shopping - Lost in Translation

As we were unable to bring most of our toiletries on the plane with us in our carry-on baggage, we decided we’d do a bit of shopping when we first got to paris. We ventured out into the local neighborhood in search of a “pharmacy”. Now, in Paris, the pharmacies are not at all what we are used to back home. No CVS style businesses with lots of selection of cheap goods exist. Here they are more like small boutiques and are indicated from the street by crazy green neon crosses. In most, if feels like you’ve entered a high-end spa or cosmetic store with lots of very neatly arranged little boxes. Pretty quickly we realized that interaction with the shop-keeps would be necessary, so we asked a friendly seeming young woman for some help with finding a razor. This didn’t go entirely smoothly as the French word for shaving cream is “razer” and it took a bit of gesticulating and mutual guesswork to figure out that what we really wanted in addition to razer was a “razior” which is razor. Probably a not the best word to start with, but once again, this was a fine example of the French being friendly and helpful despite our lack of French (and her English wasn’t great, all the more reason for her to have snubbed us). She helped us get a few of our essentials and we were off to explore encouraged by our successful toiletry acquisition and the good experience of attempting French language.

A short adventure in Montparnasse (Smart car store, Gallery Lafayette, ATM, Lunch)Emboldened by our success, we decided to explore our Montparnasse neighborhood before heading back to home base. We wandered down Boulevard Du Montparnasse and ended up at the Galleries Lafayette, which is a medium sized mall of sorts. In the mall was a store called “Habitat” that Melissa had wanted to see as inspiration for work. I’d say it was somewhere between Ikea (clean, simple, euro), CB2 (modern, primary colors) and West Elm (woods, muted colors, funky minimalism). We also happened across a department store with a range of more familiar seeming toiletries, so Melissa picked up some makeup as well.

The Hotel Mayet

The hotel is very nice and surprisingly quiet. I’m actually glad that we are a ways out of the main areas in the city as the metro stop (Duroc) is right around the corner and the hotel is clean, nicely designed, comfortable and very English friendly. We took a tiny (and I mean barely fits two people) elevator up to our third floor room. Our two windows overlook the street and the room is typically sized for Paris (e.g. small) but nice. The décor is funky and modern with a red and gray stripe running the perimeter of the room. The bathroom is also tiny, with a stand-up shower stall and perhaps the smallest toilet I’ve ever seen with a seat rim no wider than 3 inches but the flush is phenomenal, as all of the toilets in Paris appear to be. In fact, it is less of a flush and more of a downward explosion of water. All in all we were very happy with the room, especially for 110 euros ($140) a night, which is a bargain for Paris.

The Train into the City of Lights

The RER and Metro were easy to use despite the bad signage at the airport entrance and contrary to all the stories we heard about rude Parisians, we’ve experienced quite the opposite. When observing the locals, it is quickly apparent that propriety demands “Bonjour Madam” upon entry into a store or beginning any conversation with someone you don’t know. Melissa’s French is tons better than my abysmal attempts and yet we’ve had very friendly responses and never a hint of the language snobbery we’ve heard so much about.

For example: at the airport a very nice girl pointed us toward the RER which is quite a walk from the main terminal. Shortly after, the girl at the RER counter was very friendly in selling us our “billots” (tickets). Fast forward to our change over from the RER to the local metro where we had to buy a “Carte Orange” or Orange Card, which is a weekly subway pass. The attendant at the ticket booth was also helpful, if not friendly, despite our poor language skills and the fact that we didn’t know he was asking us if we wanted monthly or weekly (semaine). It has been a string of positive and friendly interactions thus far.

Another myth to be busted, the metro did not seem to be crawling with gypsies or vagabonds targeting tourists for pick-pocketing (and yes, I’ve checked my pockets since we got to the hotel). The metro was clean, very well lit and generally efficient, despite a few long walks from spot to spot.

With our carte orange in hand, we transferred at the St. Michel stop to the Cluny metro station and were shortly at the Duroc station. It took a moment to get our direction straight and a short block later we arrived at Hotel Mayet.

Relatively uneventful flight...

We slept less than expected on the plane which, I suppose, is to be expected. They seem to make these planes more and more crowded with the intent of making a buck but it is getting absurd. I am not a tall guy and my knees were literally touching the seat in front of me. Now this might be due to the fact that we were directly in front of the bathrooms which prevented us from fully reclining, but it still seemed quite claustrophobic.

We spent the first part of the flight getting squared away, doing a bit of journaling, etc. Melissa’s Mom ordered vegetarian meals for us and they arrived labeled “strict vegetarian” which made us both chuckle. Neither of us are particularly strict in any sense. The dinner was Indian and was actually quite good for air fare. I opted to drink a bit of wine to try and get drowsy and Melissa took the more pragmatic approach of Ambien. She certainly got more shut-eye than I did. In the future, I’d recommend getting as much sleep as possible the night before and planning on a rough nights sleep on the flight.

When we arrived in Paris, there was a bomb scare of some sort (likely someone just left their luggage unattended) and they shut down the passport check-in entirely. As time wore on, more and more flights packed the corridors until one could barely turn around and soon it was sweltering. People were ripping off their sweaters and jackets. One man shouted he’d had enough and roughed his way through the crowd only to find it impassible near where we were. After about an hour like this, they opened the floodgates and a virtual mass of humanity poured through the turnbuckles. Apparently overwhelmed by the enormous crowd, the customs officials abandoned the usual booths and just quickly grabbed our yellow cards (which basically re-state your identity information) and sent us on our way without a stamp in our passport or even a thorough look through our info. Needless to say, it seemed fairly insecure and we are now gallivanting around Paris with no France stamp in our passports and likely not much record that we are in the country.

An early morning and away we go

7:00AM on the day of departure. All packed and ready to go. The problematic neighbors' dog seems to have kept quiet through the night which is good considering our 5am alarm to try and get as close as we can to paris time. The challenge will be sleeping 7hrs on the plane starting at 6pm tonight. Melissa is taking ambien but I'm trying to avoid drugs if at all possible (as usual). The train ride will give us a good chunk of time (3hrs to Penn Station in NYC) to finalize some of our plan based on the poor weather we anticipate. The current forecast is as follows:

Monday: light rain - high of 66
Tuesday: showers - high of 64 (and windy)
Wednesday: morning showers - high of 67
Thursday: Sunny high of 73 (this is ideal - will try to do outside stuff this day)
Friday: showers - high of 73
Saturday: Partly cloudy - high of 72

Unfortunately, Melissa is doing the tradeshow (Maison d'Object) Friday and Saturday, so we'll have to plan carefully to avoid being cold and wet earlier in the week while we tour. Packing for this trip has been an exercise in restraint as we've avoided any checked baggage and kept to carry-on sized bags for the week. The weather has been the biggest challenge there as rain gear tends to take up a bit of space.

Shortly we'll drop off Bear at the Busl's house and be on our way to Paris!

Just 16 hours before we leave for Paris

Just 16 hours to go before we leave for Paris and we are all packed and planned. The hope is to depart tomorrow at noon, but we'll be going to bed early tonight (9) in order to try and get closer to paris time before we make the jump.