paris, france - part I

paris is the most obvious place we would visit after moving to london and, despite the built up anticipation, it did not disappoint one bit.

yes, there are lots of tourists (we discovered that we don't like tourists much even when we're tourists ourselves). yes, the french smoke a lot. and yes, parisians can be...well, parisians. but the city still has a magical quality.

this trip also marked the first time we have both traveled (across borders) by train, which was very exciting. and there's no better train for a first trip than the eurostar, the quintessential TGV.

before we left toronto we explained that part of our decision to move to london was the travel opportunities. the example we gave people was that a weekend in paris sure sounds much more exciting than a weekend in montreal. not to knock montreal or anything (we still like the place), but when you're compared to paris, you don't really stand much of a chance. on top of that, our train ride to paris was actually less expensive than a train from toronto to montreal, and two hours shorter. score.

we arrived early in the morning, discovered that our french was at least adequate in getting t+ tickets for the métro, and set off for our hotel. travel tip: if you visit paris, you may be tempted to just buy a paris visite pass. but if you're only visiting for a few days and know exactly how many trips you need, it may be more cost effective to purchase a carnet of t+ tickets (a discounted pack of 10). they work on buses, the métro and even on the funiculaire at montmartre. keep in mind that paris is quite a dense and quite walkable city (and there are bikes that are free for 1/2 an hour).

after quickly checking in, we got right down to business - the business of eating that is (why else would you visit france?). we reconned the area around our hotel (by porte d'orléans métro) and settled on a cute little brasserie. we selected a breakfast menu and got a lot of food (a menu in france is essentially a set course meal; a 'menu' as we typically understand it is a 'carte', hence the term 'à la carte'), including two drinks each. teresa had a galette, which was ham and egg wrapped in a crêpe-ish thing. she washed it down with a pineapple juice and hot chocolate. caspian had a plat de charcuterie with ham, cheese, an egg and a basket of fresh baguette. it was accompanied by a cup of coffee and another cup of cidre - europeans really do start drinking early!

energized, we set off for our first round of sightseeing and doing all the typical touristy things. our first stop was notre dame. for the record, it is much more impressive in real life than in any cartoon disney can muster. it can also be kind of creepy, what with hundreds of stone faces watching you and the gargoyles lurking above. but still, it is majestic and definitely worth checking out, especially considering it took 300 years to build. like most of the places we 'saw', we didn't go in on account of the long queues, but maybe next time. on a side note, in the square outside the west face, there is a peculiar statue of charlemagne that bears a lot of resemblence to davy jones from disney's pirates franchise.

from there we walked along the north bank of l'île de la cité over to île saint-louis across a bridge that is reputed to be one of the most romantic spots in paris (one of the most romantic cities in the world). that's a lot of romance! we strolled down the main street of the island in search of berthillon. we received a tip that this was some of the best ice cream in paris. unfortunately, the main restaurant was closed, but there were plenty of windows that were more than happy to help us sate our craving. it's no scoop, but the ice cream was excellent and full of rich flavour.

we then journeyed onto la rive droite and sought out the place des vosges for a bit of respite from the tourist hordes. paris is dotted with quaint and picturesque squares and parks that offer quiet and peace in the middle of a busy, bustling city. place des vosges is beautiful and peaceful, with a fountain at each corner and plenty of benches for a rest after all the walking we had done getting around.

our next mission was securing some dinner, but on the way we passed by the bastille, a monument commemorating the french revolution. the thing with paris is you rarely (if ever) lack a good selection in terms of places to eat or drink. the marais is no exception and we were a little overwhemed with the choice! it was hard for us to decide because we didn't really know how good a place would be and were trying to be mindful of the cost. normally, we would try to find a place filled with lots of locals, but we discovered that we eat much earlier than continental europeans, who were still busy with happy hour.

dinner was caspian's first adventure with steak tartare. for those who don't know what it is (the waiter asked us just to make sure we knew what we were ordering), steak tartare is raw steak that has been minced. to add to the effect, it is served with a raw egg. this particular place allowed the diner to season the dish to taste, although other eateries may bring it to the table already prepared.

after dinner, we were both full and decided it would be a good idea to go for a stroll to walk it off. we made our way back to la rive droite and spent the evening strolling along the riverbank arm in arm. there's surprisingly a lot of entertainment along the embankment, from exercise machines to lawn bowling, and even a man-made beach.

we eventually ended up by the louvre and decided to stop by for a look. although, again, we didn't go in, the pyramids look really cool and there are a couple of infinity pools in the square, which was impressive. french renaissance architecture quite lovely to look at and the square where the louvre is located, being a former palace was overflowing with its influence.

by this time, we were thoroughly tired. we knew that we had a lot more sightseeing to do yet and headed back to our hotel to get some much-needed rest and recharge for the day to come.

to be continued...