A fresh look at Paris
I love Paris, don’t get me wrong. It’s so…. Parisian. The quaint little streets, people sitting outside cafés drinking carafes of wine at all times of day, the buildings, the language, the beautiful people everywhere… Looking back on my time in Paris I picture myself with one of those cloudy lenses on the camera. All very romantic and joyous. And in many ways that’s what my two day trip to Paris was...minus the romance. I honestly wasn’t really looking forward to going though, I’m glad I did, but prior to going I honestly told people I was ‘just going to check out some hotels’. I did do that, but I also allowed myself some old and new adventures.
I’m not a museum person, I love seeing the big things, but once done, I’m happy to leave. For some reason buildings affect me more, as in I get a thrill looking at old buildings and their interesting quirks. So I’m not going to mention how little of the museums I have seen, nor am I going to mention the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame or Arc de Triomphe. All incredible sites that I have explored before. So what did that leave in Paris for me? Lots of aimless walking, beautiful meals, and lots of wine… And one special day trip.
Lets start with the meals, I had been recommended two restaurants, by a friend who had lived in Paris for 6 months and her boyfriend is Parisian. They were fantastic, Dans Les Landes a tapas style restaurant on the left bank was first, they presented the food really interestingly, and there was much more than we expected. They don’t have any English on their website, but there was an English menu and we could figure out our order from there. It’s not in a common area for tourists to head to, but that made it all the more authentic. I’d recommend taking the time to find it. http://dansleslandes.fr/
The other recommendation from those friends was Comptoir De La Gastronomie, with a name like that I could guess that they were all about the food! And they were, traditional French dishes in a small café/restaurant. The staff were so lovely, and really helpful. They also helped with my wine selection, of which there was a lot to choose from. And our dishes of escargot, French cheese, fois gras ravioli did not disappoint. Dessert of crème brulee, sorbet and chocolate fondant were pretty amazing too! I can’t remember how much this cost, but it would have been under $50 each for a 2 courses and a half carafe. And it was so worth it, it again is not the easiest place to find, but that could have been our taxi driver who seemed to be a little lost down every street. This is now my number one tip for people heading to Paris. http://www.comptoirdelagastronomie.com/
The other meal I had was kinda touristy, but overdue. Laduree, a Paris Icon that has started spreading its wings around the world, on the Champs de Elysees. My French toast (of course) with rasperries and vanilla cream was amazing. As expected the coffee wasn’t the best by a Melbournian’s standards, but when you are surrounded by beauty like this it doesn’t matter.
I did eat other meals, and have my half carafe outside a café near my hotel, I even enjoyed a quesadilla in the 18th arrondissement. But the above three were my highlight.
Beyond food I enjoyed walking around the city, and was able to see three hotels Bel Ami, Victoria Palace and Hotel Powers. Three different hotels, in different areas, that I’d recommend. All are smaller hotels with a boutique feel. Bel Ami, is in St Germain, and very hip and cool. The rooms are smallish but they have very cleverly used the space. Victoria Palace is an old favourite, surrounded by shopping, not far from Montparnasse. It is very French, and that won’t be to everyone’s taste, but that for me makes it better (makes the difference between one hotel in one city to the next), and the staff are so friendly and helpful. Hotel Powers is new to my list, the rooms are large and the location is amazing a block from Champs de Elysee, with amazing views over the city from the higher floors, several have small balconies which I could have easily seen myself sitting on with a glass of wine soaking in the city around me. It is an old building, and they’ve done a great job of keeping the heritage while updating features to make it fresh and liveable.
So, food eaten, hotels seen, what else? The one thing I did this trip, that I’ve wanted to do my last two trips is head to La Fayette on Boulevard Haussmann (up near La Opera). I had been so close before but never made it in, and almost ran out of time this time, but we were able to head to the top floor and to the deck and see the amazing views this shopping centre has to offer. The inside of the building is beautiful as well, so the overall experience is really worth it.
Finally, possibly the highlight of my trip was not in Paris. It was a day trip out of Paris, to the beautiful town of Versailles and the famous Chateau Versailles. I did the tour with Fat Bike Tours, and as the name suggests we rode the town and grounds of the Chateau by bike. You meet your guide and tour group in Paris, near the Eiffel Tower, before catching a train (ticket included in the price) 20 minutes out of the city. After another short walk you are at the headquarters of the tour company in Versailles and it’s time to get the bikes ready. Versailles is a small town, and they are used to lots of tourists so they were all understanding of us on our bikes, we headed to the market where we were given advice and time to go through the markets and purchase food and wine for lunch (at own cost). Then we headed into the grounds of the Chateau Versailles and to the women’s areas from previous kings, before heading to Marianne Antoinette’s famous working village within the grounds. There’s lots of time given for you to explore and take photos. In the end it was the time spent riding the grounds, and exploring these other areas, and of course my lunch of cheese and wine, that I enjoyed the most. Rather than the chateau itself. The gardens of the Chateau are beautiful, but the fountains weren’t on and I think because of that they lost a bit of their flare. There was a large number of tourists at the Chateau, so I was quite quick walking through, as much as the paintings and rooms interested me lots of people squashed in small places doesn’t. After a while we all met back out front of the Chateau to head back to Paris. It is a long day, so be prepared. But there was something about the whole day that made it the highlight of my trip.