Ian's Choice: Paris

(Dan, there will be food [pictures] forthcoming ;)

When I asked Ian where in Europe he wanted to go, one of the cities he mentioned was Paris. You've gotta go there before you die, right? So we hopped on Easy Jet and spent three days there. Looking back, we got really lucky with our air travel--no ash problems . . . yet. And I had fun showing Ian the major sites of Paris. Neither of us speak French (but we tried our best), and with just a few notable exceptions, we had a really great trip. I'm still not a fan of the Paris attitude, however.

Our Hotel had a lovely entryway, but unfortunately that was the best part of the hotel, along with the very friendly staff and the location (an easy walk to the Eiffel Tower). I can't say I recommend Hotel Nicolo. There was a layer of grime on everything, which, quite frankly, I would say of the entire city. But the hotel did have a lovely entryway which suggested there had been much warmer days before we arrived. The weather when we were there was quite chilly and sometimes rainy for May, and the contrast was probably exaggerated since we were coming from Barcelona. When we arrived, we needed brunch and I introduced Ian to Croque Madame. YUM. Sorry, no food pictures yet. I think we would have been evicted for such uncouth behavior.

But, the first sight we took in was the Arc de Triomph. We took the metro, an amazingly intricate system. We were on the escalator ascending to the street level facing the Arc, so it was fun watching Ian take it in for the first time. We sort of stood in wonder for a few minutes, then decided to take some pictures. Didn't Chevy Chase keep driving around the Arc in one of those stupid Vacation movies? I'm not sure I could navigate the streets of Paris (or of anywhere we've been, quite frankly) in a car. Lanes are where you make them, and speed limits are optional. We wandered down the Champs de Elysees for a while up to the Concord monument before we caught the metro to the next required sight . . .

Next was the big ticket item, the Eiffel Tower. AMB shot a great video of a light show at the tower that you'll hopefully get to see soon. Now I remember when I was here years ago, that we went all the way to the top, but for some reason the top level was closed this night. It may have just been too late to get up there for the day, I don't know, so we decided not to tackle the line and go up. But we did get some great shots. Guess who shot this one!

Even though it's not the best shot, it's probably one of my favorites! 

Now you'll never believe the next day, especially those of you who know how much someone likes to walk. Well, we walked all the way from our hotel and the Eiffel Tower to Notre Dame. I'm guessing that's upwards of 3 miles. But it was a lovely walk along the Seine, past the Louvre. We did go into the Louvre the next day and saw all the requisite things, including the Mona Lisa. Ian's reaction was the same as mine--"that's it?" But you've gotta see it, right? Anyway, back to Notre Dame.

Guess who took this picture?

But the best Paris pictures are coming soon . . .

After all that walking we were hungry, so we stopped in this lovely little wine shop, and I do mean tiny--4 tables. Oh, and it was pouring rain, so we had to duck (ha ha, wait for it)  in somewhere. Look at our lunch--foie gras and a delicious bottle of Bordeaux. Can you imagine getting this lunch in the states? The price would be 4 times as much and the taste wouldn't even compare. Oh, and did I mention that we had a view of Notre Dame...lunch on the left bank! And we met a nice couple who spoke very good English who recommended the next area that we explored.

After we thoroughly enjoyed our little Parisian lunch, we wandered to a Jewish area of the city, on the recommendation of a couple we met at the wine shop. Given that it was Sunday, things were closing . . . except in the Jewish area! One of our best discoveries on the way there was this unbelievable cheese shop. I have never seen or smelled such cheesy goodness. Here, take a look:

I couldn't just stand there looking in the window, I had to go in. I asked the cheesemonger to recommend something, and he did. A delicious 2 year old something, probably cheddar, a wonderful creamy goat cheese, and a delicious medium blue. So we bought them. Guess what we had for dinner (enough for two nights actually)? And when you have cheese, you need wine. So we went into a grocery and found two lovely bottles of Bordeaux for only 5 euros each. Can you imagine a bottle of Bordeaux that inexpensive at home. It wouldn't be pretty. So, every time we went out in Paris, I had Bordeaux, because I could.

All in all we had a great time exploring the wine and cheese, oh, and the sights of Paris.