Of all the calls you can get at work, “Can you hop on a plane to Paris tomorrow?” is one of the better ones (it’s right up there with “your Seamless is in the lobby.”) And so, completely out of the blue last November, that’s just what I did.
My time in the city was super intense from a work standpoint, so during the work week itself I didn’t do much beyond go to work and eat hotel room service and try to come to terms with the election results (what a horrifying way to wake up on a Wednesday morning). But nobody had told me that Friday was a national holiday in France (Armistice Day), so I wound up having that day and Saturday to spend in the city. Oooh la la! While I’d like to say I discovered some trendy new restaurant or the latest cool museum, I mostly spent those two days on a nostalgia trip, revisiting all my very favorite Paris spots. And you know what? I’m completely okay with that.
I popped into Palais-Royal, looking lovely as ever on a late fall afternoon.
I visited the Galeries Lafayette shortly after their gigantic Christmas tree went up. While it’s always cool to see the tree there, I have…mixed emotions about this year’s version. Verdict?
After admiring(ish) the tree, I went up to the roof, which has views about which I definitely do not have mixed feelings:
And then I popped next door to Printemps to look at their Christmas windows, which were as whimsical and fun as ever:
I spent a lot of time wandering around the Marais, where I was staying (at the lovely Hotel Providence):
I stopped into Loustic for a quick coffee (this coffee shop was actually one of the few new-to-me spots I visited):
And I grabbed lunch at Grand Coeur, one of my favorite spots (and whose lamb is one of my favorite dishes of 2016):
(Their pumpkin soup was pretty tasty, too).
I walked off my lunch calories along the Seine:
And paused to read for a bit in Place Dauphine, which is just about the loveliest:
I made my way to Jardin du Luxeumbourg in the early evening, just as the light was pretty much perfect:
On Saturday morning, I tried two more new-to-me coffee shops. First up, Ten Belles:
(That lemon loaf tho!)
And then La Fontaine de Belleville:
(I was very well caffeinated that weekend).
I grabbed lunch at 52 Faubourg Saint-Denis, another of my favorite meals of the year:
I stopped by my favorite wall in the world for a photo:
And I finished things off at Le Bon Marché, where I picked up a few gifts for others…and a few for myself, too. That’s only fair, right?
All in all, a comforting few days in one of my favorite places in the world!
Love it all!!!!!