Joie de vivre

Thursday morning we started the day by heading up to nearby Montmartre for breakfast. Our friend Ev recommended a cafe, Coquelicot there which served a mean egg and toast soldiers. It was delicious and amazingly cheap - 9.45 Euros for breakfast with coffees for both of us!

Sacre Coeur

Conveniently, the cafe was just down from Sacre Coeur, a massive Catholic church situated on the summit of the highest hill in Paris, which meant it also has amazing views.

Panoramic view from Sacre Coeur

We then headed back down the hill and it started to rain, so we headed straight back to our hotel to dry off and change clothes and get prepped for a possible wet day ahead. Little did we know the rain was short-lived, and soon the sun would come out for a 30 degree and impossibly humid day!

We made our way to the Louvre, and even though we hadn't pre-purchased tickets the line was moving surprisingly quickly and we were in there before we too long. Once we were in there it was a complete mad house. Swarming with people walking in every direction, and with no air-con, it was quite the zoo. I was amazed to see how many people seem to enjoy filming everything they see on their iphone as they walk briskly through the halls - especially one lady who filmed herself in a mirror for a good few minutes. Anyway, being more of a Van Gough/Picasso/Rosseau kind of girl, the art in the Louvre was impressive but at the same time also a little overwhelming and a bit same-same for me, and it was hot and there were too many people. But hey, Mona Lisa, tick.

How the Mona Lisa manages to follow everyone in the room with her eyes is quite impressive

After a couple of hours in the Louvre we had had enough fighting the throngs and so left to go and find some lunch. We walked to nearby Etienne Marcel and found a little cafe where we each ordered a salad to try and get our first dose of vegetables for the holiday, accompanied with some Chablis of course. I kept true to form and had a salad nicoise, while Ryan had some salad with smoked duck breast and toast topped with a slab of pate. Ryan assured me the surrounding leaves of lettuce was all the vitamins he needed and that it was a pretty darn good salad!

The glass pyramid courtesy of the Yanks - nicely complementing the rest of the  12th century architecture

After losing our body weight in sweat we headed back home for some showers and down time. After recharging our batteries we then headed back out into the heat (nothing is air-con here, but for some reason the Parisians didnt seem phased by the heat and humidity). So we headed back to Montmartre/Pigalle for a drink and then dinner - ended up in some Italian type place where I had a smoked salmon salad and Ryan had a creamy penne pasta with some type of jambon. We then stopped in at another bar for a drink as we watched the world go by, and then hopped on the metro down toward the Eiffel tower so we could see it lit up at night.  So finally, around 10:30pm when it finally was nearly dark we saw it, and it was absolutely beautiful. There were tonnes of people around, tourists and locals, all admiring it's beauty, and then at 11pm it started sparkling all over like twinkling stars and everyone gave a cheer. And then everyone went home (with Ryan stopping off for a burger and fried chicken near our hotel at Quality Burger coz he had barely eaten all day :P).

Happy in Paris

Jambon et Fromage

Wednesday we decided to have a picnic. We caught the train to Censier Daubenton and went to the street market area. There's a tiny street that just has fresh produce, fromageries, boucheries and boulongeries. We were after just some ham, cheese and baguette, but then something caught my eye. There was a shop with chickens in a rotisserie, however this setup was different, the chicken juice was dripping down onto roasting potatoes down the bottom. The French are geniuses I tell you. So being the horrible fatty that I am I got a 1/4 of chicken and potatoes to have with the baguette.

The chicken and chicken fat potato man aka my pusher man

After checking out about 3 bottle shops for some champagne we were coming to the horrible realisation that no one had any chilled. What the hell? Anyway we figured maybe a supermarche would have some chilled so we got the rest of the stuff for the baguette, cheese from the fromagerie, baguette from the "artisan" boulongerie and then lastly we went to the butcher. After getting the 4 massive slices of jambon we spied some champagne sitting in the cold section with the meats wrapped in glad wrap. I imagine to keep the meat stink off the wines. This man sells all the important things, meat and cold champagne. I told you the French were geniuses!

With that we had everything you need for a successful picnic and so we headed to Jardin du Luxembourg. The park is massive with a palace in the background - its an amazing area. We got a spot on the designated sitting grass and made up the baguettes. They were super delicious.

Later that evening after a rest we went up one of the tallest buildings in Paris to a bar on the 56th floor of Tour Montparnasse. You can either buy tickets to the viewing area or have a drink at the bar and that covers the admission, so we opted for the drink option. There was also a degustion of 3 blanc de blanc champagnes awwww yeah. Oh the view was pretty good too.

Apparently the new little point and shoot has a tiltshift mode.

For dinner we tried to get into a famous creperie called Josselin but it had a lineup. We found though down the street a bit there was another smaller version called Petite Josselin. I really shouldn't have ordered a crepe that had cheese and potatoes and 2 types of meat in it after the massive lunch.  I think I only finished about half of it. After that we headed back home while it was still light at about 10:30

A foodie's paradise

Tuesday morning started out with some drizzle, so we stayed close to home for breakfast, stopping in at the nearest boulangerie for a brioche au chocolat (me) and croque-monsieur (Ryan) followed by coffees next door. The rain was pretty light though so we then headed out and caught the metro down to St Germain des Pres which used to be the hangout of various famous writers and artists but which is now more a mix of tourists and upmarket hotels and designer stores.

We made our way to the Raspail markets, apparently one of the most chic and expensive in Paris, but offering heaps of different meats, cheeses, breads, seafood and vegetables, amongst other things. Some nice Italian bloke offered us a taste of his foie gras (a duck one and a goose one) and started discussing the rugby as well as ways to sneak said foie gras back into Australia. Ryan loves a good fat liver so bought a tin of the duck (canard) foie gras, but assured the guy we didn't have to fool Australian border security as we had plans to consume the tin in the coming days.

The Louvre

After the markets we continued on our foodie tour, to La Grande Epicerie, a grocey store for foodie lovers! It had an insane amount of gourmet delights - everything you could ever want and/or imagine! We then continued on, stopping in at a boulangerie for some sustenance - Ryan choosing a quiche and me, an almond croissant. This fuelled us for a long walk past the Louvre up to the massive department store Galeries Lafayette which also had a massive gourmet food section, which leaves the David Jones food hall looking a little light on. We stopped in at their seafood bar for some lunch - a seafood platter accompanied with a glass of Chablis. It was pretty damn good!

Seafood platter at Galerie Lafayette

Heading back towards the Seine/Louvre area, we got some of the famous Pierre Herme macaroons, just to finish off the seafood with a sweet hit. We soon went back to the hotel so that we could rest and re-group to head out again in the evening and see Paris at night for the first time. This night we walked up to the Montmartre area which was not far away from our hotel. We stopped in for a drink at La Fourmi (which I later read is frequented by fashionable Parisians and in-the-know tourists!) then headed up the hill to Rue des Abbesses for some dinner. We found a cafe/bistro type place, where I had a massive bowl of mussels in some delicious creamy sauce, while Ryan had a steak tartare (after assuring the waiter he understood what it was). It sure was a lot of steak tartare too, but was very tasty (and with no nasty side effects!).

Ryan with steak tartare and cone of French fries

By this time it was around 9pm but still light so in order to see Paris at night we had no choice but to stop in at a couple of small bar/cafes nearby for wine and/or coffees to kill time until the sun finally decided to set. Ryan has become obsessed with having little espressos, and the smaller cup the better he says. As the photo below would suggest, I think Ryan is taking this whole European thing a little too seriously.

Ryan, European-style

Anyway, that aside, after sipping various espressos and wines it was finally (nearly) dark so we headed down to where the Moulin Rouge is. Lit up like Vegas, and swarming with tourists, it was quite the sight to see. A show at this place costs over 100 Euro though, so a few pics were enough for us to be satisfied. We then continued along the main drag which was pretty seedy - lots of sex shops and strip clubs - kind of like Kings Cross I guess, and then wandered back down the hill home for a restful night after another action-filled day!

The Moulin Rouge!

Give me your tears gypsy

On Monday we woke up after a massive sleep eager to get out amongst what Paris had to offer. We boarded a packed metro to Les Halles. After getting out and walking up past the Louvre to Champs-Elysees we found an "Artisan Boulongerie" and got some cafe au lait and almond crossant and some kind of apple turnover pastery. Both pastries smelled of butter and decadance.


After shaking off the slight pang of guilt from the pasteries we continued up Champs-Elysees. Heidi picked up some makeup and I decided that the Levi shop there was too expensive. We eventually made it up to Arc de Triomphe. The line was massive to go up it so we just appreciated it from the outside. The amount of stone work that goes into the buildings around Paris is remarkable. I was blown away by all the intricate detail carved on nearly every building along Champs-Elysees.

"What up bitches?"

We happened along an Orange telco shop, so picked up a SIM card. After activating we got 5 minutes of internets then it died. We went back into the shop and were told it would take 4hrs to activate. I don't know why it works for 5 minutes then dies for four hours but anyways who am I to question the ways of the frenchies?


It was getting to lunch so we wandered into our reservation at Joel Robichon's restaurant de L'Atelier. This guy has a dozen restaurants around the world and about 24 Michelin stars to his name which is the kind of stats we like in a chef. Anyway this place does a lunch special for 39 of the Euros which includes amouse bouche, entre, main and dessert of your choice from the a la carte menu. The amouse bouche was some sort of savoury mousse which tasted kind of like a croissant. For entre Heidi ordered a cerviche tomato salad style dish and I had what was basically an interpretation of a pea and ham soup but the ham was iberico jamon. Both were super yummy.  For mains Heidi had a seafood spaggetti dish with some of the richest sauce I've ever tasted on a pasta. I had beef cheek with little carrots with a typically french braise but it was great. Both were accompanied by "the famous mashed potatoes" as we were informed. Dessert was trifle for Heidi and I had chocolate and vanilla creme, both don't sound too exciting but they were delicious. Creme seems to mean a variety of different things, ie the "petit pot de creme" was more like a couple of pannacottas. The trifle was made and topped with fresh fruit and was unlike any triffle I've had at Christmas.

After lunch we walked back down the Champs-Elysees and crossed the Seine river to get to the little islands. When stopping for an opportune shot of the Eiffel tower a small woman in her 40s bent over in front of us and picked up a big gaudy gold ring off the ground. She asked if it was ours and we said no and she said Heidi should keep it because she was a widow. Anyways we were asking ourselves where the hell should we hand this thing in. Then the woman comes back and asks us for money for a coffee or her troubles or something so Heidi gives her 2 euros and then she says cmon 2 more and we realise we've been scammed and the ring is a fake. We noticed later that there's heaps of these gypsys running the same scam all around the Seine, but hey we still had our wallets and passports so no harm done. 


Heidi wanted to check out this wine bar on one of the islands, but it was closed. The French keep some weird hours. Luckily another wine bar was located conveniently nearby so we went to that instead and cained a couple of glasses of french wine. Still no Champagne on the menu. 2 days into Paris and no Champagne, I was starting to get worried.


We were exausted so we took a train home during peak hour. The crowding on these trains makes the peak hour rush on the Bankstown line seem pleasant. We waited 3 trains until we could get on one and it was litterally a crush to get on. Once you're on its 40 degrees due to all the body heat. I see why there is a slight obsession in Tokyo with anything Parisian, the Japanese must think "hey these Frenchies get us and our obscenely packed trains and small living spaces". The peak hour train at Shinjuku was actually less crowded than the Paris metro. These trains come 3 minutes apart too.


We were determined to go back out and experience what Paris has to offer at night, but it seemed a nap turned into a 14 hour coma.

Bonjour Paris!

So Saturday June 23, 2012 was a stunningly sunny winter's day in Sydney. It's comforting to know there will be a lot more days like that when we get back. So Mum and Dad dropped us off at the airport and we checked in. Having previously had a couple of experiences where we have suddenly been robbed of holidays because of passport problems or other issues, I now don't rest easy until I'm through customs and on that plane. So I fought off a heart attack when the check-in girl asked us whether we had a visa for Paris. Um, no coz we don't need one. True - we are using our 90 days in the Schengen visa area to the full extent, but I double and triple checked that we were all above board. Anyway, angina aside, I pulled out a copy of my trusty google document with our planned itinerary and this seemed to alleviate any of her concerns. Phew!

So the flight to Abu Dhabi was painfully long (14 hours) and once we got there we discovered our next flight was delayed 3 hours so we had to kill over 4 hours there. Not fun, but what are you going to do. We arrived in Paris before 9am Sunday morning. Following the spanish inquisition in Sydney we were prepared for some tough questions in Paris. Instead, not only was the queue for immigration less than 2 minutes (astounding compared to Heathrow and LAX) but no questions were asked nor were our passports scanned - a quick stamp and we were in! Full marks to Paris CDG for efficiency!

We got the train into Paris to Gare du Nord, just near where are hotel was. It was still pretty early so we dumped our bags and set off, in what was now some light rain. But hey, nothing was going to rain on my Parisien parade. We wandered around - being a Sunday a lot of places were shut - but we stopped in for some coffee (Ryan had his first croissant) then continued wandering the Paris streets, which even in the rain are beautiful. Since it was raining I thought it might be a good idea to go to one of their big department stores to look at their gourmet produce, but even they are shut on Sundays!

We came across one of the many cafe/ristorante/brasserie type places - this one called La Rotonde Trinite - and had a glass of wine and our first French meal - fittingly a baguette with saucisson and emmantal cheese (that was for you Audrey!). It was yum! I could happily live on bread, cured meats and cheese for the next few weeks. So we continued to wander and by now we could check into our hotel, which was a cheap and cheerful little thing. Small and no frills rooms but hey, it was clean, the location was good and it was cheap!! Plus I finally got to have a shower after the horrid plane trip.

After a quick nap to recharge, we set off back out into the rain (which had settled in now) and after getting damp stopped in at a little non-descript bar which had a few men smoking in it (the no smoking inside law here is just a guideline). We had a little glass of wine (it really was small) then set back off and found a bistro near our hotel (the rain and the jet-lag meant we were starting to fade). Ryan had the duck, and as they were out of the mussels, I had a ham and cheese omelette, all accompanies with a half carafe of wine of course. We made our way back home and hit the hay at 9:30pm while it was still light!

And so it begins...

3 months in Europe - the plan!