As a little girl I remember hearing about Paris and thinking, “Oh, how romantic it sounds”. It seemed so far away, and like a magical place that was unreachable. In high school I took French for 3 years. As freshmen, my best friend Tori and I picked our French names- Sandrine and Claudine. We were so excited to learn this beautiful language! After a few semesters I sort of lost interest. The grammar was quite challenging and I had greater interests such as theater, American literature,  and sleepovers with my girl friends. French grammar fell far down the list, and after 5 semesters I switched to Latin.

As I got older, I remember hearing that the French were rude and did not like Americans. As a young adult, with a gazillion places on my bucket list, France was not on the list for many years. With my husband’s job we had been able to go to England and Scotland. We also took a wonderful trip all through Spain. While I loved these places, we became enthralled with Asia. Our love affair with Asia continues to grow with future destinations in sight. We had decided though, that we would love to see more of Europe.

After our last big trip we took 2 month hiatus from travel before I got antsy. We took a short trip to south Florida to see my family, which is always fun,  especially when it is 20 degrees winter in DC ;).

My hubby mentioned he had his work trip to England approaching in March, and that perhaps we could take a trip somewhere nearby. I mean why not? He would already be there for work, and well, March was my birthday month after all. I explored some different options and found a fabulous plane ticket deal to Paris on a new airline – WOW. I convinced John ( aka Conner/ aka hubby),  that Paris was exactly where we should go!

A few days before the planned trip, a huge winter snow storm was heading for Washington DC. There were threats of complete city shut downs. We attended dear friends’ baby shower that weekend before. At the shower everyone convinced me that I just had to get on an earlier flight. John would be leaving that night, but my flight wasn’t until Wednesday- the exact day the huge storm was predicted to hit! I couldn’t bear the thought of my Paris birthday trip getting ruined, and losing our money on plans/ plane ticket home etc. Plus, I had already been approved off of work– and it was my birthday! I didn’t want to sit stuck at home in a snow storm while my husband was over in europe! I had to make this work!
With some help from my little brother, I got on an earlier flight. That Tuesday, the day before the storm hit, and my 34th birthday, I flew to France. I had a quick layover in Russia, and as I arrived in Paris I was suddenly overjoyed with excitement. The overwhelming security as soon as we de- boarded the plane was surprising. Security guards asking for each person’s passport. With the recent terrorist attacks, I suppose they were being extra cautious.

I had no trouble finding my way through the Charles de Gaulle airport , and quickly hailed a taxi to the hotel (for a pricey $50 USD). We were staying at the Hilton Le Defense. Conner would not arrive until very late that evening. When I arrived it was midday, and still my birthday in France :).

I was surprised to have my suitcase opened and searched as I entered the Hilton. Another security measure the French were taking very seriously. As I checked in, the front desk clerk knew it was my birthday (either my hubby told them or they saw on my passport), but either way I was given free champagne cards. Score!

Once in the lovely room, I showered, and immediately headed out to explore. Wanting to save most things to see with Conner when he arrived, I decided to just explore the Le Defense area around the hotel. The area is more of a business district, and not typical of actual “Paris”. It was later explained to me that Paris has specific rules about architecture, building heights etc. The La Defense area was a separate area, very localized, that could have taller office buildings. It had really interesting modern art all around as well.

I enjoyed walking around and found an Italian eatery for lunch, Yes, I had pizza as my first meal in France. I also had a glass of wine, as I sat and enjoyed people- watching.

After some more walking and exploring, I headed back to the hotel thinking I could rest before Conner arrived.  I remembered my complimentary birthday champagne, so I headed to the lounge area. Relaxing with my champagne, I loved reading all my birthday messages from friends and family. The bartender wished me a happy birthday with a second glass of champagne.

As I was finishing it and ready to head back to the room for a rest, a  3rd glass was suddenly brought over to me. I heard from across the lounge a strong French accent , ” Bonjour  mademoiselle, my compliments, happy birthday”. The frenchman, another patron of the lounge continued to say, ” don’t worry, I am married, I am harmless. I am just interested in chatting with Americans and learning from them”.

“Hmmm”,   I thought- ” is this is creepy or nice?”. I quickly made it clear that my husband would be arriving soon, and thanked him for the champagne. He asked some questions from across the lounge regarding American politics and explained how the French feel about American culture. He said many French don’t travel to America, with fear of disappointment. They like to think of America as “pure” with ” cowboys” and ” strong American soldiers” and are disappointed when they see the news of shootings and  the obesity epidemic.

Since I work in healthcare I was very interested to learn about the socialistic healthcare system. He explained its pros and cons- and many flaws. He explained the high taxes that the French pay, and said he was indeed “not in favor” of socialized medicine. He said most of his wealthy friends choose to go to the US for surgeries and other medical procedures.  Now, this is just one man- and his opinion, but I really did find some of the things he said to be very interesting. One reason I love to travel is for this- meeting random strangers, and learning so much about their culture and beliefs.

The nice Frenchman suddenly became obviously intoxicated and was rambling on about personal issues with his family and how he was afraid to go home and confront his wife. Things got uncomfortable and when he was in the bathroom I politely thanked the bartender and escaped to my room.  I fell asleep only to awake to hubby’s arrival! Yay! It was nearly 10pm ( still my birthday), Conner asking if I wanted to go to do something. We decided to get some good sleep, so we could awake early and make the most of the next day.

After a lovely breakfast , we set out to “Musee d’Orsay.  We decided to take the metro, as we have found in most major cities around the world, this is often the fastest, cheapest and easiest way to go! The La defense metro station was right by our hotel- a typical busy, chaotic city metro station. After studying the very confusing maps we had the route we needed figured out. Paris maps are broken down into zones. Certain passes/ prices get you access to certain zones. Quite confusing. We tried purchasing our metro tickets from the electronic machines but our cards kept getting declined. We had let our banks know we were in France, so this was odd. We searched for a human employee to help us but couldn’t find anyone for quite awhile. All of the in-person ticket booths were vacant.

While looking we saw quite a few Syrian refugees begging for money. Syrian children are beautiful! I had learned from the Frenchman the night prior, that the French government had been taking drastic measures to help the Syrian refugees. They had assistance centers for shelter, job placement etc. Some French were not in favor of the influx due to increased homeless/beggars as well as their tax money spent to help the refugees. What a tough situation- and I will not get into politics at this time- I don’t personally know what the answer is, but I am always in favor of helping those less fortunate.

After some time we finally found a woman to help us. She didn’t speak great English, so we had some trouble understanding her. We eventually understood that for a 1 time set price for the week, we would have a metro card that would give us access to all zones, and even get us outside of Paris to Versailles, and to the airport. Perfect! Why was this not advertised? All of our research online prior never mentioned this?

     

We finally made it to Musee D’orsay, and were not disappointed ! We spent hours and hours exploring this glorious museum!

What a wonderful time we had! I think I could have spent 3 entire days there! The afternoon was spent walking all around the city!

Love Lock Bridge

 

The Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile

View from the Arc

Seeing the Eiffel tower in person was so exciting!!! We had tickets later that evening to go up to the top! After researching before our trip, I learned it was best to reserve tickets ahead of time. We wanted to time it so that we would be at the top during sunset. We arrived early and had some popcorn and people watched while waiting to go up! We quickly moved through the line when it was our scheduled time, escorted to a diagonal leaning elevator which took us all the way up!

Beautiful Views! We had a really great time! While on top Conner started thinking about dinner- he must have been hungry. He found a very highly rated restaurant nearby on Trip advisor. Here’s a little tip- he booked a last minute reservation through TripAdvisor and we got a discount (basically a free bottle of good wine). What we didn’t realize, was that at sunset the stairs to go down the Eiffel Tower close for safety reasons, so the only way down is via elevators. Many people wait for the sunset , so the lines to go down the elevators get quite long. We waited quite awhile- probably 40 minutes before we could get down. We were afraid we would miss our dinner reservation. We ran and made it just in time!

Dinner was delicious— and I only wish I remember the name of the quaint restaurant!

 

The next day we spent hours at the Louvre- another fabulous museum! I just can’t put into words, how it felt to walk all around and through this world renowned place!

     

Parisians lived up to their romance reputation. They seemed so relaxed and happy. At all hours of the day and night, lovers could be seen kissing, holding hands, or just laying in parks together. Children playing, and elderly walking with ease and contentment.

Outside the Louvre- a park during lunchtime on a Thursday- locals just enjoying life

We had an amazing crepe lunch, followed by just enjoying walking around this wonderful city!

That night we had my birthday dinner at the ridiculously delicious 114 Faubourg, a Michelin rated restaurant located in the dine Le Bristol hotel.

Every bite was decadent, every dish a beautiful display of art! The Le Bristol hotel was so lovely- and even had a resident kitty!

The next day was spent exploring the vast and spectacular Versailles! A short 1 hour train ride, followed by a brief walk, getting to Versailles was easy! Tickets are 18 Euro or about 21 USD per person. We did have to wait in line for about an hour before we could enter the immense grounds. We had an audio tour that explained in detail every room, and the amazing gardens that went on and on and on!!

Definitely plan to spend at least 4-5 hours at Versailles! We probably walked 5-6 miles all around the gardens/ interior!

That night we enjoyed a fun food and wine tour around the Montmartre District. The interesting, artsy district is situated on a hill. We arrived to meet our tour guide and her trainee. We waited for the rest of the group to arrive, but as it turns out, they were not going to make it. So we got a personal tour! It was quite fun and interesting. The tour guides took us to many sites, explaining history and culture. Every once in awhile we would stop at a bakery, butcher shop or fromagerie, and gather things for our dinner, which we would have later.

 

We enjoyed our food and wine pairings in the small “secret food tour” space, which was sort of like a wine cellar.

We had more than enough to eat, and think our $100 was well spent. Each cheese paired perfectly with cuts of meat and delicious French wine. The French do not use preservatives like Americans. Therefore, everything is ultimately organic. They use only fresh ingredients, and purchase from the markets daily. They only buy what they will eat. They think the idea of large US supermarkets, and freezer stored food is crazy! The meats, cheeses and breads all taste much better in France- so fresh! Some of the smellier cheeses, Conner was not a fan of, but I really enjoyed!

After all of our wine and food we set out with our tour guides to a local bar. We ended up joining a bar crawl and making friends with some guys from California. We had a fun time!

Me and our tour guide

The next day we spent seeing Le Jardin du Luxembourg, Notre Dame, Palais Garnier Opera house and Sainte Chapelle.

Opera house- Palais Garnier

A lovely lunch of delicious duck and escargot- every meal we ate in Paris was so delicious!

Our last night in Paris was spent on a delightful sunset Seine river cruise. What a great way to end our time in this splendid city!

Paris, you did not disappoint- in fact you exceeded every expectation over, above and beyond! What an amazing place- a place I hope to visit again. A place, Conner and I both agree we could live! We don’t say that about many places! The people were nice and charming, with signs of love and laughter everywhere! The food was beyond amazing ( and the wine not so bad either ;)). The streets clean, the architecture divine, with history and rich culture at every turn! Once we figured out the metro card trick, public transportation was easy! March was a nice time to visit, as the weather was cool and refreshing , but not too cold, and no humidity. Paris is not a cheap city however. Be prepared to spend money for most sites. And be prepared to walk! The best way to see the city and get a real feel is to walk the streets.

Sunset in Paris

Oh, J’adore Paris!

Stay tuned for more Conner 2017 adventures- next Niagara Falls

<3,

Kinz