7 Paris, France (Part Deux)

It was great to be back in Paris again. At least one of us could communicate adequately, the city looked beautiful and inviting, and the temperature was significantly cooler, with glorious shade and breeze to match.

We'd scheduled our return to Paris very intentionally. July 26 was the final day of the Tour de France, ending in Paris on the Champs Elysees! Patrick has been a fan of the Tour for years, and we'd both been following this July's up until we left for our honeymoon. What was surprising is that as soon as we got to Europe we were unable to catch any TV coverage! Instead of watching at sports bars or somewhere public, people seemed to watch from their own homes. And we didn't have much TV access. Luckily Patrick was able to catch up with events in Vernazza from Giuliano, who is an avid cycling fan.

On the day of the finish we took the Metro to Tuileries about two and a half hours before the expected arrival and found a fantastic spot right in front at the 1km to go marker. This was also where the big trucks lined up for the caravan of sponsor floats that began an hour later. The anticipation grew as we all waited and waited for the bikers to arrive. Finally, a little after 4pm, guests in the hotel across the street started coming out on their balconies and we heard a helicopter hovering above. And then, the riders! They zip by so fast but we were able to pick out Lance Armstrong and the yellow jersey, Contador, as they flew down Rue de Rivoli. The best part was that this was only the first time they went by--the end of the race requires eight laps around a circuit along the Seine, down Rivoli, and up and down Champs, and so we got to see them a total of nine times! They hugged the left side of the road whenever they came by, which was where we were, determined grimaces on each rider's face. The whole event was absolutely thrilling!
Aside from the Tour, we also used our return to Paris to do some of the things we didn't have time for on our first trip. We spent a morning strolling the Champs Elysees, visited beautiful Parc Monceau, and hiked up to Montmartre to see the Sacre Coeur. On our way we stopped at the Montmartre Cemetery where the likes of Alexandre Dumas and Edgar Degas are buried. It's a really beautiful cemetery, with impressive tombstones and lots of interesting family crypts.

We also visited a very different kind of burial ground: the Catacombs. For us, this was really two and a half years in the making. Patrick has long been intrigued by catacombs and in Rome in 2007, we spent an entire day hiking the outskirts of the city, searching for their mysterious catacombs to no avail. (We were almost attacked by dogs in the process, and our bus back downtown died in the middle of nowhere...it was quite the adventure.) Two weeks ago in Paris, we again began the search for catacombs. We found the correct Metro stop, Denfert Rochereau, and then wandered the streets, following confusing signs, looking for an entrance. After asking four or five people in Katrina's best French, someone finally explained that they were right behind us in the middle of a traffic island directly across the street from the Metro. Of course it was closed by then, but we vowed to return.

Upon arrival this time we found the entrance is quite easy to spot due to the long line out the door. They regulate the number of people who come in at a time, and we waited maybe 45 minutes or so to get to the door. First we descended an extremely long spiral staircase to get down to a cool, damp chamber below the city. The passageways actually correspond to the streets above, and we navigated through a museum area, a few sculpture displays, and long halls with plaques of historical information about the site. Patrick had just started to complain that he thought we were actually going to get to see "bones and stuff" when we got to an entrance with "Empire of Death" written above. What lay on the other side was definitely disturbing: the corridors are lined with heaps of methodically stacked bones and skulls, almost like logs on a cabin. Every time you turn a corner you think that there couldn't possibly be more, but the macabe display stretches on for meter after meter. Most are built so that the skulls look out at you, watching as you go by. Patrick certainly got his fill of "bones and stuff" and it was somewhat of a relief to finally exit the chamber.
We also had an opportunity on this return trip to see one of Katrina's friends, Caroline, who know lives in Paris. She took us to a very fun, hip bar called Chez Prune, located in the 10th Arondissement, that serves a variety of delicious wines (in four different requested quantities), beers, and cocktails. Caroline introduced us to a French drink called a Monaco comprised of beer and grenadine. After Patrick ordered one he wondered aloud if as a male it was acceptable for him to order such a drink. Caroline didn't seem to indicate it was...but as many of you know the potential of girly drink mockery has never stopped Patrick before.

While Hotel Jeanne d'Arc served us well on our first visit, we decided to find an option a little easier on the wallet and correspondingly our daily budget (that we've been surpassing every day of the trip so far) this time around. We found Hotel Armstrong on the outskirts of Paris and were absolutely delighted with our stay. It is located one block from the Metro and has nearby a boulangerie that sells Mmmmm-rated mini beignets among other treats and a supermarket with a wide selection of wines priced under 2 Euros. The rooms were very comfortable, with great pillows, a real comforter, and even a flatscreen TV. The biggest plus, aside from the shockingly low price tag, was that we had free wifi in our rooms! It wasn't the speediest internet, but still a real luxury.

View more pictures from Paris here.

8 Paris, France

The morning after our wedding we woke up at 8am filled with utter anticipation, brunched with friends and family, and then packed like mad to close up our apartment and make our evening flight to Paris. It was sad to say goodbye to our home of two and a half years, but we were excited for the road ahead.

We landed in Paris a bit fuzzy from the red-eye flight but zoomed through passport control in a matter of minutes and were on the RER train downtown. At this point Patrick, still adjusting to the unfamiliar feel of a wedding ring, and worried about it slipping off while washing his hands, suggested that he could always just take it off. This was just over 24 hours after being married, so you can imagine Katrina's reaction. Needless to say the wedding band remains sitting quite nicely on Patrick's left ring finger.

Paris is a great walking city and we spent much of our time wandering the charming streets and gardens. This is a great way to visit the famous sights while getting to know the many arondissements. We stayed in the Marais District--a historically Jewish neighborhood now known for its variety of brasseries, cafes, cute shops and lively nightlife--so our days began there. It is an easy 30-minute walk to the Tuileries Gardens and the Louvre down Rue Rivoli, passing Paris's beautiful Hotel de Ville (City Hall) on the way. But we also had a great time navigating the small back streets further from the Seine, where we found some great spots--like L'As du Fallafel branded as delicious by the long line out its door, to Rue des Petits Carreaux, which is a street absolutely packed with less expensive dining options with French clientele on their lunch hour. These spots sure came in handy as we were ravenous after waking up early and spending the morning at the Louvre. We left the Louvre around 2pm, and believe it or not the line didn't look longer than half an hour. In retrospect it would have been great to sleep in that day!

Notre Dame is just on the other side of the Seine and is one of Paris's great free attractions. From there, it's not far to the Sorbonne (which is surrounded by a fun student neighborhood), St. Sulpice, St. Germain de Pres, and the Pantheon. We spent a great afternoon at the nearby Luxembourg Gardens where open bottles of wine are welcomed but sitting on the grass is strictly forbidden and enforced by intimidating policemen with loud whistles. There is a designated "grass sitting" area, but we found it much more pleasant to pull two of the abundant chairs provided to a quiet shady nook for our picnic. Just pick up a baguette from a boulangerie and some cheese and wine from the market on your way and you are all set!We chose to dole out climbing fees for only one of Paris's many monuments with a view: L'Arc de Triomphe. And climb we did, up a very long spiral staircase to the top where we got fantastic city views and a great perspective on the crazy traffic circle that surrounds the Arc. We forewent the climb of the Eiffel Tower but enjoyed taking it in while snacking on a crepe from a nearby street vendor. Not far from there is the Hotel des Invalides, which continues its original purpose of serving wounded veterans while also hosting a fantastic military history museum displaying royal armor, weapons, and even Napoleon's tomb. This was actually the first stop for revolutionaries to stock up on weapons before storming the Bastille on July 14, 1789, and since we visited on the anniversary entry was free!

But that was only one of many, many perks of being in Paris on Bastille Day. Festivities actually begin the night before with parties all over the city hosted by each arondissement's fire station. Our hotel was located just a block from the one for the 4th Arondissement, and we can attest that these parties rage literally to the break of dawn. The blaring music of Abba and the Beatles at 2am definitely took us back to our wedding reception just 48 hours earlier.

On July 14, Paris celebrates with a huge military parade down the Champs Elysees beginning at 10am. Many of the streets and bridges are closed, so we had to power walk westward along the south bank of the Seine until we found a bridge that was not only open, but where we were allowed to walk towards the Champs once on the other side. This ended up being the parade lineup point--and we arrived just in time. The event starts with a military plane flyover that can only be described as an air parade. The first flock jettisoned smoke streams in blue, white and red making up the French flag, and was followed by aircraft after aircraft. In the parade marched thousands of service people representing every branch of the french military, plus tanks and even a brigade of firemen! These firemen were the only ones to get applause--we're not sure if people were just very pleased with the parties the night before or if there is some sort of special French fascination with firemen. After the parade we walked over to the Hotel des Invalides and watched helicopters land on the esplanade and paratroopers fall from the sky with French flag parachutes. And at night, when the sun finally set at 10:30pm, they put on an amazing fireworks show with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop. Those French really know how to celebrate their national holidays!
Our home while in Paris was the Hotel Jeanne D'Arc, a cute little hotel in the Marais. The place definitely has its own character and the rooms are in a word, serviceable. We also had a fantastic window with charming views. Right next door is the Brasserie de Jarente where we enjoyed our first French dinner on their patio with musicians playing in the alley. However, dining out is not cheap in Paris (a Coke at a cafe can set you back $5!) so our staples were baguettes and croissants from the abundant boulangeries around town. We were astounded to find that a cheap bottle of wine at a supermarket was about the same price as a half liter bottle of soda: 1.50 Euros. This led Patrick to adopt the rule, "I'm not paying more than 2 Euros for a bottle of wine."

More pictures from Paris can be found here.

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