Paris, France (2022) - Travelogue

Tuesday, April 26

We arrived at Logan Airport around 2pm on Tuesday after a series of flight changes and hours on the phone with customer service. However, once we arrived we had a very smooth check-in and we toasted the start of our honeymoon with nachos, sangria, and a blackberry cocktail. Our flight was uneventful, though we both enjoyed some of the best airplane food we've had (lasagna for Alice and beef stew for Josh, both of which came with a caprese salad, bread with Irish butter, and chocolate mousse). We arrived in Dublin at 4am local time and waited five hours with coffee and books. We boarded our flight to Paris and arrived there in the early afternoon on Wednesday.

Wednesday, April 27

Upon arrival in Paris, we took the metro to the Saint-Germain neighborhood, where we checked into our lovely hotel, Hôtel Académie Saint-Germain. After a two-hour nap, we walked over to the Luxembourg Gardens, where Josh enjoyed a nice coffee, and then we wandered up through the Latin Quarter and across the river to Café le Zimmer, an upscale bistro in which we shared a cheese plate that included camembert, comte, and our new favorite -- Saint-Nectaire. Alice then had a pumpkin bisque and Josh had steak frites with a shallot sauce. Josh's steak was accompanied by a glass of local wine and Alice enjoyed a Spritz Saint-Germain (in honor of our hotel's neighborhood) -- also her new favorite. We walked back toward the hotel with a stop at Notre Dame, where we read the signs about the details of the ongoing repair work. We then stopped at a souvenir shop to buy Alice a beret -- pictured here. She has not taken off the beret since.

Thursday, April 28

After a restful night sleeping off our jetlag, we awoke Thursday and walked over to the Louvre, where we had a timed entry for the brand new special exhibit (just opened the day before!) called "Pharaoh of the Two Lands", which featured a special collection of artifacts from the Kushite Empire (the 25th Dynasty ruling primarily in Upper Egypt). But before we went in, we got breakfast at the patisserie food truck across from the Louvre, where Alice had her first croissant of the trip and Josh had his first crepe. We each accompanied our treats with a cappuccino. After finishing the special exhibit, we hit some highlights of the main Louvre, including classical sculptures (Venus de Milo, Athena, and Nike), a collection of French Crown Jewels, and a famous painting of some woman named Lisa.

Next, we walked a few blocks away to a beautiful square where we sat outside and enjoyed croques (French grilled cheeses) and people-watching (and of course, another cappuccino). Directly across from the restaurant was our meeting point for our next event, a walking tour of French Revolution history, led by a delightful guide named Thierry (pronounced "Terry"). We walked through Cardinal Richelieu's palace, now the Palais-Royal, which was a key meeting spot for early revolutionaries and a marketplace that drew people in by shooting off a tiny cannon each day by which locals could set their watches. We then saw the home of La Fayette (whose first name was apparently "Gilbert") and learned that his father had been killed when he was young by a British soldier, leading to a lifelong hatred of the British that pushed him to join the American revolutionaries. Apparently they won.

We also learned about key women of the revolution, including Olympe de Gouges, who wrote a pamphlet on the "rights of women and citizens" (in contrast to the declaration of the "rights of man and citizens" put out by the new National Assembly in 1789) and distributed it to the revolutionary leaders. She was guillotined. And we saw the home of Robespierre, leader of the "Committee of Public Safety" best known for his reign of terror, in which he guillotined anyone he deemed to be an enemy of the revolution. In a grand gesture of karmic irony, he eventually was shot twice in the jaw (survived) and then guillotined (did not survive) by a group of his peers. The final stop on the tour was at the Place de la Concorde, which was the site of a major guillotine. More on that plaza tomorrow.

Next up, we walked three minutes over to Edwart Chocolatier, a famous French chocolate shop, where we had a brief lesson on the origins of chocolate (and tasted single-origin chocolates from different countries to appreciate the impact of soil type and environment on taste). We then went to the downstairs lab for a 90-minute technical chocolate-making workshop. The class was led by a New York native who lived in Boston (and worked at Toscanini's Ice Cream in Cambridge during college) and has spent the last eight years working in Paris as a chocolatier. We were joined in the class by two French women, an American student from Colorado, and a family from England. We learned the table method of tempering chocolate for our bonbon shells, made both dark chocolate ganache sweetened with honey and a hazelnut-cocoa butter praline filling, piped the fillings for our layered bonbons and sealed the final chocolate layer. After a few minutes of cooling, voila! Fancy French chocolates in a cute box for us to keep (see photo). We enjoyed the lesson and greatly enjoyed the chocolates.

Next we strolled along the Seine and across to the Rue Cler area, which is a quaint street with fromageries (cheese shops), patisseries (bakeries), boulangeries (bread shops), and fresh produce stands. We learned that a place can only call itself a boulangerie if it makes its baguettes fresh in-house, and also that the price of baguettes has been regulated by the French government since the revolution. We collected a picnic of fresh French strawberries (identified by their torpedo-like shape and sweet smell), a baguette, and two cheeses we picked out from the greatest selection we've ever seen -- a small round of rocamadour goat's milk cheese and a block of pavé d'affinois, a cow's milk cheese with the texture of brie but a milder and lighter flavor. We ate our haul sitting on a bench in view of the Eiffel Tower, and we both decided that pavé d'affinois might be our favorite cheese ever. The view didn't hurt. For dessert, we sampled several of our homemade bonbons from earlier. Très magnifique!

A few blocks away, we found a cafe to share a salad (in case chocolate and cheese is not a sufficient meal) and a carafe of rosé. We returned to the Eiffel Tower as the sun set (which happens around 9:30pm these days!) and watched it light up for the night. We walked across the pont d'lena bridge and along the river, pausing at the top of the hour to watch the five-minute Eiffel Tower light show. We finished the day with a long stroll back to our hotel and over 25,000 steps taken.

Friday, April 29

Our day began with a timed entry at the Musée de l'Orangerie, which famously houses Monet's water lilies. These paintings are stunning in person and are displayed in an infinity shape across two elliptical rooms, per the artist's wishes. I too would like my work displayed in this fashion one day. We also looked through the rest of the museum's impressionist collection (it's a small museum) and then enjoyed cappuccinos and pastries (a croissant for Alice and a pain au chocolat for Josh).

We then walked across the Tuileries garden to the Hôtel de la Marine, which is a royal palace that housed French weaponry (it was raided just a few days prior to the Bastille) as well as being the headquarters of the French Naval Ministry for 200 years (until it was recently converted into a museum). We embarked on a 45-minute multimedia tour (with an audio headset and video components) and learned about the history of both the building and the plaza. The Place de la Concorde was constructed for King Louis XV as a new royal square to house a majestic statue of him. Control of the square's design was given to the winner of an architectural design contest, and the site was chosen based on the fact that the monarchy was hurting for money and already owned the property (it was a less-than-desirable swamp). Hôtel de la Marine is one of two buildings that frame the north-south axis of the square, while the east-west axis is defined by the Louvre and the Champs-Élysées. Where these two axes cross once stood the majestic statue of King Louis XV, which was torn down during the revolution, just a few years after it was put up. It was replaced years later by Napoleon III when he discovered and coveted a pair of 3,000-year-old Egyptian obelisks that once stood outside the Luxor temple. The obelisks proved difficult to transport, and so he traded for the smaller of the two, giving the Egyptians a large clock that now sits in Cairo and has been non-functional for the past two centuries.

Next, we walked up the Champs-Élysées, taking a quick tour up Rue de Franklin Roosevelt for a delightful lunch at an outdoor cafe on a small side street. Alice had Josh each had a burger (with impossible meat for Alice) and some delicious frites. We understand that frites are a traditional French food and we felt we owed it to the culture to experience this French delicacy as frequently as possible. We also shared a virgin piña colada to cool off on the hot day.

We continued up the Champs-Élysées toward the Arc de Triomphe, admiring the designer stores, overpriced bistros, and cabarets that we passed along the way. We climbed the 284 steps to the top of the Arc, where we read about its construction and edifices and enjoyed a 360-degree panoramic view of Paris. Our favorite frieze featured the aforementioned Luxor obelisk being carted into Paris! We walked back down the 284 steps (easier down than up) and walked back down the Champs-Élysées.

Near the end, we detoured across the Seine, ending up at Les Invalides. This was the first day of our two-day Paris Museum Pass, and we wanted to get the most bang-for-our-buck by hitting as many museums as possible. The three sites that morning were all on the pass, and we were about to visit three more in rapid succession. To fuel up for this endeavor, we stopped by a patisserie and enjoyed a coffee eclair and a small raspberry tart.

However, when we arrived at the main entrance at Les Invalides, it was blocked by police and paparazzi. We later learned that the funeral for famous French actor Michel Boquet was being held at Les Invalides that day, and newly reelected President Emmanuel Macron was making his first public appearance since the election. We saw his motorcade leaving the site a few minutes later! We decided to walk across the street to the Rodin museum and enjoy some tranquil minutes in the beautiful sculpture gardens alongside The Thinker. We also saw the Gates of Hell (the sculpture, not the actual gates) and walked through the lovely indoor collection displayed in a small mansion. It was cool to see sculptures we've visited at Stanford in their natural habitat!

Next, we returned to Les Invalides where we found a back entrance that was not closed for the funeral. This took us directly under the beautiful gold dome of the former Royal Chapel. During the reign of Napoleon I, he decided to convert this stunning chapel into a burial place for military officers (seems like he may have had ulterior motives here). His impressively-large tomb (it was a collection of six layered coffins, which seems to be a bit of overcompensating) lies at the center directly beneath the dome.

We continued through the courtyard of Les Invalides and took a stop at the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, where we saw original 18th century military maps and three-dimensional models that were once used for real-time strategic planning.

Having successfully completed all six museums for the day, we returned to the hotel for a brief rest (by this point we had once again walked 25,000 steps) and then walked over to Rue de Buci, a fun neighborhood close to the hotel with many outdoor restaurants. We found a lovely tapas restaurant in which Alice had roasted eggplant with cheese and Josh had a tapas sampler that included a mini-hamburger and beef empanada. We shared patatas bravas and cheese croquettes, as well as churros in chocolate sauce for dessert. We also each enjoyed a delicious sangria followed by a lovely walk back to the hotel. Despite having just shared dessert, we got ourselves a nutella and banana crepe to share as we walked. No regrets.

Saturday, April 30

Our day started at the Musée d'Orsay, the second largest museum in Paris (after the Louvre), which houses an enormous collection of art from the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. We walked through their well-interpreted exhibit on the evolution of impressionism as well as a collection of some of Van Gogh's most famous works, including several self portraits and Starry Night. Alice particularly loved seeing five of Monet's cathedrals of Rouen, as those were the paintings she studied in her course on art and the mind during her study abroad in Italy. We learned that all these paintings were done simultaneously, with Monet swapping out one canvas for another when the light changed at different times of day (which he believed happened every seven minutes). We also saw an original bronze cast of Lady Liberty, a larger version of which sits on Ellis Island.

Feeling inspired, we walked along the Seine and bought ourselves a beautiful piece of artwork -- an oil painting of the Eiffel Tower in spring, painted from the exact same angle from which we enjoyed the light show on our second night in Paris.

We stopped at the hotel to drop off our art and then journeyed on to Sainte-Chapelle, a stunning example of gothic architecture. The church was built in just six years during the 13th century and all under the supervision of a single architect, lending it a consistency that is rare among gothic churches of this size. When you walk inside, you are completely surrounded by towering stained glass panes, giving the feeling of being inside a jewel box (or so Alice says). The images in the panes tell the entire story of humanity, beginning with creation and moving clockwise around the room until the end of the world.

Next we walked back across the Seine to the edge of the Latin Quarter, where we ate savory crepes in a small cafe with a view of Notre Dame. Our day continued with a walking tour of the Latin Quarter, led by a French stage actress. We learned that this area along the Left Bank of the Seine was originally known as the education district (and still houses the Sorbonne, among other universities), and it became known as the Latin Quarter for the universal language of scholarship. Our guide told us about the Parisii tribe who originally inhabited the islands of the Seine (and from whom Paris gets its name), as well as the way in which the Romans reshaped the islands when they arrived. We also learned about the area’s medieval architecture, including the buildings' prominent "bellies," a term for the ways in which the buildings bulge outward on their second levels ("first floor," as the Europeans would call it, since they can't count). This is to keep the streets as wide as possible while allowing more living space on upper levels. However, it didn't work so well and the roads remained very cramped, which led Napoleon III and his architect Haussmann to tear down and redesign Paris in the second half of the 19th century. It is for this reason that most of Paris has a remarkably uniform design and city planning well-suited for modern life. We also learned that it is illegal to change any facades in Paris, which will keep it picturesque for generations of honeymooners to come. We also saw the school in which Cyrano de Bergerac studied (Josh is a fan of the book and was fascinated to learn that he was a real person, although his story has been exaggerated). We are looking forward to watching the new movie with Peter Dinklage.

The tour ended at the Pantheon, a mammoth neoclassical church that was finished just in time for the French Revolution, which did not like churches. Therefore, it was promptly turned into a mausoleum for distinguished (and non-religious) French citizens (the bodies of Rousseau and Voltaire were exhumed and moved to the Pantheon to drive home the point that this was not meant to be a religious site). We enjoyed walking through the crypt and seeing these two famous figures, as well as Marie Curie, Josephine Baker, Victor Hugo, Alexander Dumas, and others. The Pantheon also houses Foucault's Pendulum, which first demonstrated the earth's rotation and still pendulates today. The Pantheon marked our ninth site in two days on the Paris Museum Pass -- we definitely got our money's worth!

We next walked back down the massive hill of the Latin Quarter to a patisserie that our guide claimed had the best croissants in Paris. We each had one and agreed, although our minds would be changed one day later. More on that to come. We stopped at a charming cafe in that same square and shared a carafe of wine ("Côtes de Gascogne", which was delicious and sweet) while watching people walk by.

We then wandered in the direction of the hotel, stopping for a crepe along the way (this time, nutella and strawberry), and then stopped for a post-crepe dinner at an Italian bistro. Alice had rigatoni with eggplant, tomato sauce, and parmesan, and Josh had rigatoni with salmon and a dill cream sauce. Alice also had her new signature cocktail, a Spritz Saint-Germain, and they shared a crème brûlée. Turns out the French are pretty good at dessert. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped to buy Josh a blue flat cap to match Alice's blue beret (see photos from the next day).

Sunday, May 1

Our day began with a long trek (literally next door) to the Maison Fleuret, a French pastry school, where we were signed up for a 2.5 hour croissant master class. We were joined by three other American couples (one studying abroad, one on their honeymoon, and one celebrating their five-year anniversary). It was amazing. We each made two croissants and two pain au chocolats, learning and practicing every step (mixing and laminating the dough, shaping each pastry, proofing, applying the egg wash, baking, and finally, eating). Turns out, these are actually the best croissants in Paris! This class was a lot of fun and certainly a highlight of the trip thus far.

After class, we dropped our extra pastries back in the room and set off via metro for Montmartre. Once there, we walked along the main boulevard to a chic food hall that, by night, features a rooftop dance club, but by day features an elegant rooftop bistro. Josh and Alice both had burgers once again. They both came with frites. Alice ate double frites.

We then walked back up the boulevard, stopping in a well-known patisserie for an espresso and a Coke to wake us up before our walking tour. We met up with our tour guide at Moulin Rouge and learned about the history of this district and the way in which dance and jazz brought together people of all social classes. This neighborhood originally featured a wall where the boulevard now stands that marked the border of Paris. While Paris had high taxes, there were no taxes just over the wall, leading wealthy Parisians to cross the wall for entertainment and creating this red light district. Unsurprisingly, this cheaper area is also where the artists tended to live and share their work. Napoleon III tore down the wall and made this neighborhood part of the city, and it remains a hub of art and culture today.

Highlights of our walking tour included Van Gogh's Paris residence, where he stayed with his brother Theo before moving to the countryside (we matched his door! see photo); the last two remaining windmills of the dozens that originally stood here; several charming parks, gardens, and bocce courts; the last remaining cabaret that still functions in the old, communal style of yesteryear; and a tiny vineyard that still operates today. The tour concluded with majestic views of Sacré-Cœur and the City of Paris before it. To the south, we spotted the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Napoleon's Tomb, and the Pantheon. To the north, we could see the modern city limits of Paris where the Haussmann-style buildings and characteristic gray roofs give way to the suburb of Saint-Denis (so called because the martyred Saint Denis, one of two patron saints of Paris, walked 7,000 steps down the hill to this area carrying his own head before finally dying -- the neighborhood of Montmartre is also named "martyr mountain" in his honor).

After the tour ended, we went inside Sacré-Cœur (which was built in the "eclectic" style of the turn of the 20th century and therefore features Romanesque and Byzantine influences) to appreciate its massive dome and the largest mosaic in Europe. We entered just as an evening church service was ending and got to hear some beautiful organ music playing with the incredible acoustics of the building -- a special treat! We next walked through the outdoor artists' market around the block before finally descending the hill of Montmartre (with a quick stop for a chocolate eclair on the way!) and catching the metro to Place de la Bastille in the Marais neighborhood.

The Marais neighborhood is home to young professionals as well as the majority of the Paris Jewish community. We walked through the neighborhood, visiting the Place de Vosges (a beautiful square of townhouses originally built for the king and his friends that includes the home of Victor Hugo) and then getting some falafel from L'As du Fallafel, which was some of the best falafel we've ever had (at least the part that ended up in Alice's mouth and not on her dress). We found a quaint park with benches in which to enjoy our meal, and then we walked back through the rest of the Marais neighborhood with a stop to admire the...unique...exoskeletal architecture of the Pompidou Center. We walked back toward the hotel and crossed the Seine as the sun was setting – a majestic sight. We finished our night at another sidewalk cafe we had previously noted in the same area as the tapas restaurant from Friday night, where we split a crepe with caramelized bananas, homemade dark chocolate, and vanilla ice cream.

Monday, May 2

Having made the most of our time in Paris, we stopped for one last Parisian cappuccino (along with our remaining croissants from the class) and headed for the train station, where we boarded our Train to Tours. Check out the Loire Valley page to learn about the next leg of this trip!

Total Paris Croissant Tally: 13

Total Paris Crepe Tally: 6