Our summer family vacation to London and Paris was a dream come true.  I enjoyed Paris so much during that visit, that I jumped at the chance to accompany my husband on a business trip.  While I enjoyed 2 days and every evenings with my husband, he was in Paris for a conference, Le Web.  Most days I entertained myself by exploring and touring alone.   I took the metro to museums and sites, meandered along small streets, looked in tiny boutiques and tried to speak French.  It was indeed a luxury to wander museums and churches at my leisure and see Paris at my own pace.

Here are some highlights of the days I spent alone:

Musée de l’Orangerie.  It’s most famous for Claude Monet’s Les Nymphéas, but the entire museum is lovely.  It’s a manageable size  and offers a nice selection of modern art masters.  I really enjoyed this museum and highly recommend a visit.  (Photographs were prohibited.)

Jardin des Tuileries.  Although the flowers and trees were not in bloom, it’s still wonderful and a quiet respite from the city.  Even walking through the garden in the rain was enchanting.

Galeries Lafayette.  This department store is gorgeous–and overwhelming.  I had never seen a shoe selection this big; I was dizzy.   I drank hot chocolate at the in-store Angelina and had macarons from one of the two Pierre Hermé boutiques.  The art gallery has a great exhibit on display and there are several champagne bars. Santa Claus welcomes visitors in the enormous toy department and the whole store is gaily decorated for Christmas.

Palais Royal.  Paris has so many grand buildings and this is one of them.  There is a garden, contemporary art columns by Daniel Bruen and high-end boutiques.

Café de Flore.  This famous café on the Left Bank is very expensive, but a great spot to grab a cup of tea and people watch.  I had a nice conversation with an older French gentlemen sitting next to me.

Shakespeare and Company.  Near Notre Dame, this English bookstore is fantastic.  It sells both new and used books; I could have stayed there for hours browsing and reading in one of cozy corners.

Centre Pompidou.  I really liked this museum of contemporary art.  I didn’t see all of it–it’s enormous–but I saw the permanent collections and the Edvard Munch exhibit.  That was a treat because I love his work.  There’s also a viewing platform with fantastic panoramic views of the city.

Sainte-Chapelle.  We missed seeing this church during our last visit to Paris, so I made a point of visiting this chapel built by King Louis IX to house his collection of Passion Relics.  The stained glass literally took my breath away.

Pierre Hermé.  This chocolatier is all the rage in Paris and not just for chocolate; the macarons are supposed to rival Ladurée.  Well, I just had to taste for myself!   It is good, incredible even, but for my money, the best macarons are still at Ladurée.

Église Saint-Sulpice.  Walking out of Pierre Hermé I saw a huge fountain and a beautiful impressive building.   Curious, I had to go see what it was.  It was Église Saint-Sulpice, the second largest church in Paris (it’s slightly smaller than Notre Dame).   It was the 4th church I had entered that day; I also saw Sainte-Chapelle, Notre Dame and St-Germain-desPrés, the oldest church in Paris).

There was so much to see and do and I barley made a dent, but that’s just a great reason to return!

Photos:

Jardin des Tuileries

Sainte-Chapelle

Galeries Lafayette

Galeries Lafayette, art gallery

Galeries Lafayette, ceiling

Café de Flore

Shakespeare and Company

Palais-Royal

Jardin du Palais-Royal

Centre Pompidou

Centre Pompidou, Henri Matisee, Figure décorative sur fond ornemental

Centre Pompidou, Andy Warhol, Ten Lizes

Centre Pompidou, panoramic view

Église Saint-Sulpice

Église Saint-Sulpice, nativity scene

Pierre Hermé macaron

Pin It

© 2011 – 2012, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

My family traveled to London and Paris this summer.  We learned a few things.

TIPS ABOUT LONDON

The grocery stores in London are great.  Waitrose and Mark & Spencers are great for fresh food to go and Whole Foods in South Kensington is incredible.  Even if you don’t eat there, just go look and wander around.  Sample the gelato made with buffalo milk!

Public transportation in London is very clean and easy to use.  We bought a one week Oyster Card and it was worth it; we used the tube several times a day.  My daughter (aged 9) didn’t pay to ride.  Crossing the street was harrowing; we felt like we literally risked our lives each time we crossed the street.  But people do it everyday and we didn’t see anyone get hit.  When you see the green man, cross the street and quickly.  Run if you have to!  When he turns red, the cars will go–even if you haven’t made it safely to the other side.

Get out of the city for another perspective.  We took a trip to Windsor & Eton and it was lovely.  Our only regret is that we got a late start and didn’t see as much as we would have liked.  Reserve a whole day to walk around the towns and see the castle leisurely.  Be mindful that the shops close at 6:00 p.m. and they mean it.

Bring a coat; it’s cold!  And it rains, so bring an umbrella–no matter what your husband says.

If you are taking the Eurostar to Paris, one word: margin.

TIPS ABOUT PARIS

Try to speak French.  I learned some conversational French before our trip and used it.  Everyone I spoke to encouraged me (and corrected me, but that was good).  It is true that most people speak English in Paris, but there were a few times when my limited French was our only mode of communication.  I ordered lunch in a tiny boulangerie, asked about buying Metro tickets and talked to a police officer at the Eiffel Tower.  Her little English and my little French produced a whole conversation about the Eiffel Tower lights, fireworks and traveling.  I am inspired to learn more French; I love it!

Walk as much as possible.  Paris is a wonder and the best way to see it is on foot.  Choose a neighborhood, take the Metro or bus there and then walk around.   Turn down tiny streets and see what you can see.  Take a map!  It is a very big city with very small streets and it’s easy to get lost.  And guess what?  Everything is in French!  You WILL get lost, but it’s okay.  Find a cafe, sit down for a cup of tea or a glass of wine and figure it out.  We only took the Metro a few times, the bus twice and the train once; the rest of the time we walked.   As such, we didn’t need an extensive transportation card; we just bought a carnet (book of ten tickets).  Don’t put them in your wallet near your credit card or they may lose their magnetic power; that happened to us.   I really didn’t care for the Metro that much; it wasn’t as direct as the tube in London and not nearly as clean.  I can’t speak for every station, but the few we saw were gritty like New York City subways.  The buses were nicer to ride, but there are many lines and it’s easy to get confused.  The iPhone app “Hop Stop” was invaluable for planning our Paris transportation routes.

As much as we LOVED Paris, there is one thing that we did not like: dog poop.  We love dogs, we just don’t like the owners who don’t pick up after the dogs!  My daughter counted 178 dogs in Paris (several of those were inside restaurants, stores and on the grounds of Versailles; Parisians love their dogs).  This very beautiful city has a very serious dog poop problem.  As my son said, this is very perplexing for a city that loves high-fashion shoes.  Be mindful of where you step!

Restaurants and cafes are not for quick eating: you don’t rush them and they don’t rush you.  Eating in Paris is a leisurely affair, with time to drink, talk and people watch.  Plan for a long meal and enjoy it or get take-out.

Like London, Paris is extremely expensive.  If you’ve ever vacationed in New York City, you have an idea.  If a burger in Atlanta is $10, it’s $15 in New York and $20 or more in Paris.  It is what it is.  Save where you can by eating take-out for breakfast (or make breakfast in your apartment, like we did), grab sandwiches for lunch at a boulangerie and buy snacks at the grocery store.  Then if you have one restaurant meal a day, it’s not too bad.   Do what you must to afford it, but be sure to budget money for meals.  Paris has amazing food!

Cafes, patisseries, and boulangeries are everywhere, but sometimes my kids (and husband) needed a snack at the most inopportune time.  By the second day we got smart: we bought a baguette every morning, cut it up and carried it around in a Ziploc bag.  This worked especially well for snacking in long lines.  We also carried juice boxes and water from the grocery store in a small lunchbox.

Need a bathroom while walking around? Stop at a cafe for a quick drink.

A note about fashion: this is a fashionable place, do try to blend in.  However, comfortable shoes are a must.  This is always a struggle for me–to look fashionable, yet comfortable.  I didn’t really succeed.  I had very cute, Parisian-looking flats, but despite the Cole Hann/Nike Air technology, my silver flats were not meant for walking ALL day like we did.   I compensated by changing shoes mid-day and stretching often.  As for clothes, it was cooler than I thought it would be in Paris and the Weather Channel app was not accurate at all; it was either warmer or cooler than predicted.  Layer with a sweater or jacket and add a fashionable scarf; you can add or remove pieces as needed.  I had packed a pair of black capri tights for my daughter and that worked well under her dresses or shorts for cooler days.  I wish that I would have packed the same for myself and next time I will; I saw many Parisian women with tights under dresses, skirts or shorts and it was a chic (and warm) look.

THE MOST IMPORTANT TIP OF ALL: JUST GO

You will be lost–all the time.  You will not speak the language.  You will get on each other’s nerves.  You will be exhausted.  You will spend so much money that you will have to eat beans for dinner when you return home.

Go anyway.

The adventure you have, the fun you share and the excitement you feel will last a lifetime.

© 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Paris, How Do I Love Thee?  Let Me Count The Ways:

1. Crepes–on the street! Can you believe that they make the most delicious crepes right on the street?  During a long day of sight seeing we were hungry and lost because we missed our bus stop.  As we stepped off the bus and pulled out a (Google) map to figure our location, there was a crepe stall right in front of us.  Refueled with delicious crepes and re-oriented, we were ready to tackle the rest of our day.  Every lost encounter should be so sweet!

2. Hot chocolate at Angelina. You must go to Angelina for hot chocolate! Go to the one on rue de Rivoli, near the Louvre.  If you look on the website you will see that they have one at Versailles and one in the Louvre, but they are small.  Go to the one on rue de Rivoli; it is beautiful.  The food is expensive, but good; the croque monsieur comes highly recommended and my husband loved it.   You can also just order a hot chocolate and pastry.

3. Courtyards, squares and gardens. Paris is big city with all the usual big city ways:  large buildings, crowded streets and fast cars.  But in the midst of the city chaos are beautiful pockets of calm. Walking around the streets of Paris, just when we were tired or lost (did I mention that we were often lost?) and needed to regroup, bam!-there was a garden, square or courtyard with greenery, flowers and chairs.   The gardens and squares were filled with people talking to friends, reading a book or eating lunch.  As busy as Parisians are, they also make time to relax and recharge.  This mixture of energy and chillaxing is another thing that I love about Paris.

4. The buildings are works of art. I was an art major in college and while I loved most of my art history classes, the lectures on architecture always put me to sleep.  A dark lecture hall and static slides about 18^th century churches?—Time for a nap!  But now I know that it wasn’t architecture that put me to sleep, it was the slides! Walking around Paris I LOVED the architecture! On almost every block I was like a wide-eyed kid pointing, “What’s that building?” “Oooo, I love that building!” Just walking around outside was like being in an art museum.  I started taking photos of all the beautiful doors that I saw on our daily walks around Paris.  How lucky the French are to live in such a beauty city!

5. Surprises around the corner. Paris has so many tiny streets and some of them are only a block long.  It’s so easy to get lost!  It’s also easy to turn down a street and see something fantastic, like a perfect still life of a bike and red store front on a cobblestone pedestrian street.  So delightful!

6. Île Saint-Louis. This is one of two natural island in the Seine river (the other is Île de la Cité, the larger of the two and home of Notre-Dame).  My husband and I fell in love with this beautiful, tiny, romantic island.  It is primarily residential, but there are several boutiques, shops and restaurants on rue Saint-Louis en L’Île.  My children will return for the ice cream at the famous French glacier Berthillon (the Salted Caramel is the best ice cream that I have EVER tasted), but my husband and I will return to Île Saint-Louis just to wander around in it’s beauty.  There’s a nice hotel and a few romantic restaurants that we noted.  We shall return without the children.

7. The Seine. Look at the last photo in this blog post; there is no explanation needed as to why I love the Seine river.

Photos:

Girly eating a crepe.

Angelina.

Angelina’s hot chocolate.

Close up of Angelina’s hot chocolate.

The ferris wheel at Jardin des Tuileries.

The view of Jardin des Tuileries from the ferris wheel.

A door on rue Vielle du Temple.

A perfect Parisian still life on rue des Barres.

A random store front on rue Saint-Louis en L’Île on Île Saint-Louis.

Berthillon Glacier (ice cream shop) on Île Saint-Louis.

Sunset on the Seine and Île Saint-Louis from Pont Louis-Philippe.

Au revoir!

*Read about the rest of our Paris vacation and London adventures too!

Pin It

© 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

My family and I love to eat.  In the spirit of the Food Network show by the same name, we’re going to share the best thing we ever ate and hope that you will tell us your favorites too.

Of course we had all kinds of delicious food in Paris, but you know my family, we love sweets.  I had read about French macarons and was eager to try them.   Here in America macaroons (spelled with two o’s) are little mounds of coconut cookies, but French macarons (spelled with one o) are entirely different:

A macaron is a sweet confectionery made with egg whites, icing sugar,granulated sugar, almond powder or ground almond, and food coloring. The macaron is commonly filled with buttercream or jam filling sandwiched between two cookies. Its name is derived from an Italian word “maccarone” or “maccherone”. This word is itself derived from ammaccare, meaning crush or beat, used here in reference to thealmond paste which is the principal ingredient. It is meringue-based: made from a mixture of egg whites, almond flour, and both granulated and confectionery sugar.  The confectionery is characterized by its smooth, domed top, ruffled circumference (referred to as the “foot”), and flat base. It is mildly moist and easily melts in the mouth.  -Wikapedia

To learn even more about macarons, read Serious Eats: “Introduction to French Macarons”.

We had our first macaron right down the street from our apartment at Maison Georges Larnicol on rue de Rivoli and after one bite we vowed to have as many macarons as possible while in Paris!  They are insanely delicious!  Delicate, yet bursting with flavor, each bite is heavenly.  I don’t know how they pack all that flavor into such a little tiny cookie.

At Maison Georges Larnicol we had Caramel, Citron (lemon), Bergamot, Pamplemousse (grapefruit) and our favorite at this location, Rose macarons.

Our next macaron tasting was at Le Grand Epicerie Bon Marche, an incredible “grocery store” on the ground floor of the high-end department store Le Bon Marche.  We ate macarons of Framboise (raspberry), Chocolat, Caramel á la Fleur de Sel (salted caramel) and Pêche (peach).  Our favorite macarons  from Le Grand Epicerie Bon Marche were Pêche and Framboise, although all were very good.

Our 3^rd macaron experience was at Angelina.  Since we were there to drink Angelina’s famous hot chocolate (read about it in my next blog post), we only had one macaron on the way out, Manderine Passion. Tropical and fruity, this macaron was different and delicious!  We regret not buying more macarons for later.

Finally we had macarons at the legendary Ladurée.  This was on my “must eat” list and after my first macaron at Maison Georges Larnicol, I really wanted to see if Ladurée’s macarons lived up to the hype.  I can tell you that Ladurée’s macarons were the most expensive ones we tried, but I can also tell you that they were worth every euro.  They are incredible! You can buy them at the shop or have them with a pot of tea in the tea salon next door.  We did both.  The tea was delicious and the salon is beautiful.   Ladurée’s macarons can be packaged to make nice gifts, however it is best to buy gifts at the airport location because macarons must be eaten within 3 days.  We went crazy at Ladurée and tried several flavors: Pistache (pistachio), Chocolat, Cassis Violette (black currant violet), Citron-Thym, Vanille, Coco (coconut), Framboise (raspberry), Café, Caramel á la Fleur de Sel (salted caramel), Pétales de Rose, Melon, Goyave (guava) and Fleur d’ Oranger (orange blossom).  Girly’s favorite was Pistache.  Honestly all the flavors were delicious, but the stand out was Caramel á la Fleur de Sel; it had the perfect mixture of sweet and salty and melted in my mouth.   Mmmmm….it was divine!

It’s a good thing that French macarons are not available near me because I would have a problem!

(Oh, and since leaving France I’ve had a macaron at a “French chocolatier” in Los Angeles.  Not even close.   I’ll wait until my next trip to France to have a real macaron.)

Photos:

Macarons in Maison Georges Larnicol.

Macarons in Ladurée.

Au revior!

*Read about the rest of our Paris vacation and London adventures too!

Pin It

© 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Much of our time in Paris was spent wandering around just exploring (and lost!), but we did see some of the sites that you “had” to see while in Paris–but we also missed so many!  I’m sad about not seeing the Champs-ÉIyseés or Arc de Triomphe, but it just wasn’t possible to see everything in six days.  I guess that means that we just have to go back to France!  Here are some of the sites that we did see:

Musée d’Orsay

My family likes going to art museums.  We are members of Atlanta’s High Museum and often visit the art museums in New York City or other places when we travel, so we were excited to see art in Paris.   The first art museum that we toured in Paris was Musée d’Orsay.  This museum is in an old train station so even before we saw the art, we appreciated the beauty and design of the building.  There was a special exhibition of Manet’s early work and that was a treat.   A large part of the museum is dedicated to impressionist art by van Gogh, Monet, Degas, Gauguin—some of my favorite artists.  The kids were excited to see so many paintings that they recognized from books.   (We were not allowed to take photos in the museum.)

Notre-Dame

Notre-Dame was a short walk across the Seine from our apartment, so we had to see it.  While it is a pretty impressive structure from the outside, it is amazing on the inside.   Breathtaking.  Jaw-dropping. Even with all the tourists milling about making noise, there is a stillness and holiness that brought tears to my eyes.   The soaring ceilings, stained glass windows, chapels, altars and art affected me deeply and I must go back again.  I took photos, but photographs cannot capture the beauty of Notre-Dame.  If you ever have a chance, please go see this beauty for yourself.

Musée du Louvre

We couldn’t come to Paris without going to the Louvre and so we did on Bastille Day—along with everyone else who decided to take advantage of the free admission for the holiday.   But the line moved quickly and within 30 minutes we were inside one of the most famous art museums in the world.  I knew it was large and that we wouldn’t be able to see much; I thought maybe we could see a whole wing.  I was wrong.  The Louvre is enormous; we were there for several hours and I think we saw a hallway or two.  It’s that big.  We did make a point of seeing the rock star herself, Mona Lisa.   Despite the massive size of the museum, she was easy to find, we just followed the crowd.   She graciously posed for photos and then sent us off to admire her renaissance peers.

Tour Eiffel

It is actually the one time in Paris that I felt a bit unsafe because there were just so many people at the Eiffel Tower.  We also took the bus there and our bus tickets didn’t work when we boarded, so we were already a little off-balance when we arrived.   But we went right up to the structure, stood underneath and wowed.  It’s impressive.   I was glad we made ourselves go out after a long day of touring.  The twinkling light show was magical.

Château de Versailles

In retrospect we should not have gone to Versailles that day.  We were up late the night before (all week really) and we were tired from 5 full days of touring Paris. Versailles is big, really big.  Really, really big.  It is not the place to go if your feet already hurt before you get there.  Cobblestone streets are not for tired feet.  But it was our last day and if we wanted to see Versailles, it was do or die time.  And so we went.

We saw the chateau gardens (very lovely) and The Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon and some of Marie Antoinette’s estate.  And grass and trees and more gardens.  All lovely.  We saw all of this by walking, walking, WALKING all the day.  At one point my son refused to go any further and just sat down.  It’s a lovely place, gorgeous!  And it was beautifully sunny day, perfect for walking and exploring the extensive grounds—but not for people who were on their last day of a 12 day high energy trip.  By the end of the day I was calling my husband Clark Griswold from National Lampoon’s Vacation; he brought his family all the way to France and we were going to see Versailles, dammit!

Honestly even if we weren’t already exhausted, I think it would be hard to see all of Versailles in one day unless you got there very early (well rested of course) and used one of the transportation options offered at least part of the time.  Silly fools we were, we scoffed at the tram and golf carts.  Don’t make the same mistake.  If you plan to see the chateau, other buildings and grounds on the same day, use transportation in the form of the tram, a segway, a golf cart or bikes.  Biking seemed to be a nice way to get around. You cannot walk all of Versailles in one day without injuring yourself.  Do not try.  Also, it might be a good idea to bring your own lunch unless you plan to eat at one of the restaurants.   Several of the snack bars ran out of food.  Check out my rant video:

We finally toured the chateau and it was amazing! I’m glad Clark Griswold my husband insisted on Versailles Do Or Die.  I do want to go back again to see the parts that we missed.

Photos:

Notre-Dame.

Notre-Dame: cross.

Notre-Dame: stained-glass window.

Tour Eiffel

Musée du Louvre

Me & Girly outside Musée du Louvre

Château de Versailles: in the garden.

Château de Versailles: Hall of Mirrors.

Au revoir!

*Read about the rest of our Paris vacation and our London adventures too!

© 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.