Paris (iii): Tour Eiffel & Final Meals

From Versailles, I headed back to the city to meet my friends by the Eiffel Tower for a picnic. I actually did not go up the tower and didn't really have any plans to. As it turns out, the workers were on strike for most of the week I was there, so I probably couldn't have gone up even if I had wanted to. We picked a spot a ways down the lawn and set about attending to a cobbled together spread of baguettes, wine, cheese, cookies, and a bag of Haribo gummies of The Smurfs that, in France, are Les Schtroumpfs. Peddlers carrying shopping bags full of alcohol sauntered by idly. Pockets of tourists posed ludicrously with forced perspective. Waves of dark clouds rolled by, but mercifully kept their contents to themselves.

After luxuriating on the grass for a time, we parted ways. A and K were headed to catch a train to London to attend Wimbledon the next day. G and I made our way to the ubiquitously recommended L'as Du Fallafel for dinner.  The line wasn't bad, but I did not have much of an appetite at that point for some reason. It was good though. We strolled a bit along the Seine to Point Neuf before calling it a night. We walked west as it grew dark and the river lit with boats filled with river-going revelers and the Eiffel Tower shone it's rotating beacon across the city.

For my last full day in Paris, I did very little. I allowed myself a late morning before heading to Frenchie To Go for a superb pastrami sandwich. A bit different from what one might find in the States. Less fatty, but still flavorful. I then went to the Galeries Lafayette to wander and pick up some macarons from Pierre Hermé for folks back home. The Galeries were pretty obnoxious, over crowded shopping malls. Having not had anything else planned before dinner, I went to the 6th floor cafe and actually fell asleep on a table for a little while. I think I may have spent too much time in Paris asleep in random places.

For dinner, I made a point of going to Le Severo. A small corner shop that I'd found frequently referred to as the best steak frites in Paris. Not having had any other notable steak frites in the city I couldn't say for sure, but it was pretty amazing. The steak, a thick medallion cote de beouf, was prepared perfectly. A stellar piece of meat, to be sure. It was the fries, though, that were the most remarkable. The intensity of the potato flavor was just not something I'd ever had before. I don't really know why they were so good. I could have eaten a bucket of those. It was my favorite meal in Paris.

The next morning I made the trek back to CDG in the rain and concluded that CDG is the worst airport ever. But Paris was a nice wind down from a tiring couple of weeks in Nairobi. I deliberately left my itinerary pretty unstructured so I could just go about the city leisurely. There are a million things I didn't do or see, but Paris will always be there. Perhaps I will go back one day. There's a chance I may be traveling to Nairobi again in September or October. I think then I may try to swing through Italy.

Paris (ii): Le Baratin & Versailles

Tuesday was a welcome respite. No long tourist walks or a half-night's sleep. There was little on my agenda except to hit a few restaurants. In the morning, I stepped out to a boulangerie next door to pick up a baguette and some orange juice and brought it back up to the apartment. I threw open the large street facing windows to let in the cool morning air. I sat on the couch eating the plain baguette while checking some emails. It was nice not having to rush off to catch a plane or meet someone. Around 11am, I walked the few blocks to Le Dauphin for lunch (a sister restaurant to Chateaubriand). I'd heard good things and it was enjoyable, but nothing worth raving about.

 A friend of mine put me in touch with an expat in Paris that writes for Paris By Mouth (she was also in DC for a while and helped open Union Market). Later in the afternoon, after a nap, I linked up with her and we shared stories and mutual acquaintances from DC while visiting various shops in the Marais neighborhood. Later on, we headed to Le Baratin for a 7:30 dinner reservation with a few of her chef friends. Le Baratin is a little spot that I'm told is an industry favorite. I was something of a bystander for the 4-5 hour meal while our chef dining companions held forth passionately (and often in French) about restaurants and the industry.

Dinner was a 7-course meal that the chef insisted on cooking for us after some unintelligible conversations were had at our table with the owner. About a month out, I can't remember exactly what each dish was, but highlights included veal brains doused in a rich butter sauce and some of the best sweetbreads I've ever had. It was a long and luxurious meal. I couldn't help thinking of the dramatic range of dining experiences I'd had in a few short weeks from Mombasa to Paris. After dinner, it was already past midnight and the group was going to go for drinks, but I had come up against the wall of fatigue again so I politely dismissed myself and headed back to crash in a satiated heap. 

The next morning I got on the train to head out to Versailles. I was greeted by a monstrous line outside the gates of the palace that I endured for over an hour. Once inside, the entire palace was wall to wall tourists. Weary of crowds and waiting in lines, I basically speed-walked through the entire thing. Royal bedrooms, the Hall of Mirrors, all of it. I have no doubt that I might have taken some lovely photos of these places given the space, but my patience was waning. Exiting to the gardens, however, was much nicer. Wandering the labyrinthine hedge paths and strolling along the canals was much more relaxing. I grabbed a coffee and a sandwich and laid down on the lawn by the canal. Families and couples in row boats drifted idly by. Conversations and laughter faded into one another and blended together as I fell into a warm sleep in the grass. Come mid-afternoon, I headed back to the train to return to the city for a picnic by the Eiffel Tower.

Paris (i): Zombie Tourist

By the time I got to Paris, I was pretty exhausted. After an overnight flight from Nairobi, I set out navigating the train system from CDG to the city to meet my airbnb host. My flight had been delayed, but I managed to link up with her and get situated in the apartment. airbnb is pretty awesome. I think I'll make more use of it in future trips. 

I honestly can't remember very much from my first day. I met up with a friend of a friend in the early afternoon and walked up Montmartre to the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur. It was overcast and quite chilly. The weather was basically identical to Nairobi's. I had hoped it would be more summery in Paris. I also hadn't realized how far north Paris is. The sun didn't set until near midnight. After overlooking the gray, urban sprawl for a bit from the steps of the temple, G and I wandered a bit. For the life of me I can't recall anything from this day. This isn't usually a problem for me, but I suppose fatigue has its toll. The only thing I can recall is just how much like Paris Paris actually looks. Beautiful wrought iron balconies dotting pristine sandy hued brick apartments around every almost artificially quaint corner. Immaculately manicured tree lined avenues and cafe patios with their street facing tables.  

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That first evening was a blur. In hindsight I also realized I had been a really lazy photographer in Paris. I didn't spend much time taking thoughtful or interesting shots. I threw my wide lens on and barely took it off. I also just didn't take as many shots as I should have in general. Regrettable, but I was tired. 

The next day, I did the whole Notre Dame -Arc de Triomphe walk. Along the way, I swung across the Seine to have lunch at Le Comptoir du Relais and Avant Comptoir, a popular bistro and creperie respectively. Lunch consisted of fried pig feet (funky, delicious), rich, buttery, puréed potatoes (extremely delicious), and a glass of wine. Notre Dame was impressive. I almost didn't go inside because the line was massively long, but it moved quickly. After speeding through the cathedral because it was teeming with tourists, I made my way west along the Seine and passed through the Louvre. I didn't go inside. I tend not to visit museums when I travel. As much as seeing art in person is cool, I'd rather go do and eat things. I can see art online. Can't eat food online.

I continued through the gardens and down the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe. I made the trip to the top and spent a good while looking out over Paris as the clouds parted and shed a little color over the city. Fairly exhausted again after this point and I'd been fairly zombie-like for most of the walk, I headed back to my room before meeting G and some other friends for dinner.

A couple of friends, A and K, from Maryland were also traveling through Paris on a Eurotrip at the time, so we all met up for dinner. Unfortunately, Parisians seem to close for inscrutable reasons at random times so the first two places we tried were closed. I'd read that Bistro Paul Bert was meant to have one of the best steak frites in the city and it was nearby, but it was closed (but I had amazing steak frites later in the week, so it was a wash). Next we tried a place G knew of nearby. Closed. After that we just went to the first spot on a corner nearby that was open. We had a largely forgettable meal while comparing Paris experiences so far. Communication failures. Cultural shocks. Bad French accents. It's always nice to see friends in other countries. 

After dinner we ordered another bottle of wine from the restaurant to take over to the Canal Saint-Martin and drank out of little plastic tea cups. It was meant to be a very local thing to do. After a bit, we all retired to our respective rooms for the night and I promptly fell back into a travel-fatigue induced coma.